Almost Perfect
by A. L. Nowicki
Summary: Henry Jekyll's dreams, both professional and emotional, are finally coming true! However, when an old foe comes back to haunt the League, will his dreams last through the drama?
1. A Pair In Love

Disclaimer: As much as I would like to own them, none of these characters are owned by me, except for Andre McCane and Simon and Batsie Linoge. Sigh.  
  
My last story, 'Among the Angels,' has inspired me to do a Jekyll/Mina love story. However, not all relationships are perfect. When a certain someone returns to the League, Jekyll and Mina will have to rely on their love for each other to make it through as a couple. Will their relationship survive?  
  
So, sit back, relax, and I hope you all enjoy my new story!  
  
*  
  
Mina Harker sat in a rocking chair in her room on the Nautilus and continued to knit herself a new scarf.  
  
When they had heard what she was doing, her fellow League members had completely flipped out. "Sitting in a rocking chair? Knitting? Is Mina running a fever? She doesn't sit and knit!"  
  
And usually she didn't. Usually, Mina was either working in her chemistry lab, getting into fights with Rodney Skinner, or prowling the corridors of the Nautilus, looking for fresh blood. Even though she was not allowed to suck blood on the Nautilus, Mina got very thirsty for blood when the Nautilus was at sea, and usually prowled around the corridors with a menacing look on her face until one of her fellow League members told her to stop it because she was freaking them out.  
  
However, Mina wasn't running a fever. She was sitting and knitting because she was in love. In love with Dr. Henry Jekyll. When Mina was in love, her womanly instincts came out, and she was tempted to sit and knit.  
  
"Look on the bright side," Rodney Skinner had joked to Captain Nemo and Tom Sawyer. "At least she doesn't insist on doing the cooking and cleaning. That would be horrifying!" Nemo and Sawyer agreed.  
  
But she was humming lullabies to herself at night. And she was writing poetry at her desk in her spare time. Mina enjoyed being in love. Ever since her beloved Jonathan had passed away, Mina thought she had given up on love forever, until she discovered that she was completely smitten with Henry Jekyll.  
  
Henry Jekyll was also in love with Mina Harker, but it didn't change his personality much. He was still the same kind, gentle doctor as he'd always been. When he was not healing the sick and injured, Jekyll had resumed his experimenting on the two-ness of men. Several years earlier, he had separated his good self from his bad self. That had been step one. Step two was to separate the two selves into different bodies. That way, he wouldn't have to keep switching back and forth between himself and Hyde; Hyde would have his own body, never to bother him again.  
  
And every day, Jekyll had found some new way to tell Mina that he loved her. This morning, he had breakfast delivered to her in bed. Yesterday morning, when Mina had gone to take a shower, she had found the bathtub already filled with warm water, and the bathtub ledge laden with bath beads, special massaging oils, and several soaps and body creams, along with a note that said, "Enjoy your bathing time. Love, your Henry."  
  
Jekyll had also been in love before. Once, he was engaged to a woman named Emma Carew, whose father was the President of St. Jude's Hospital in London, where Jekyll used to work. However, on their wedding day, Hyde had gone berserk, came out and occupied Jekyll's body without the stimulation of Jekyll's special potion, and killed Emma, out of pure jealousy. If scrawny, puny Henry Jekyll could have love, why could Edward Hyde?  
  
Jekyll had been heartbroken ever since. Until he found out that he was in love with his fellow League member Mina Harker.  
  
And the rest of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was very supportive of their relationship. Captain Nemo was very happy for the couple; Rodney Skinner and Tom Sawyer were both jealous. Sawyer was jealous that Mina wasn't his, and Skinner was jealous because Jekyll, the shyest out all of the men in the League, had actually been the first one to engage in a romantic relationship. Still, jealous or not, Skinner and Sawyer were also very supportive of them.  
  
However, fellow League member or not, Jekyll was very afraid that Hyde would become jealous AGAIN and go after Mina. Mina had heard about what had happened to Emma, and she was also very afraid of Hyde. That was why Jekyll was resuming his experiments on the two-ness of men. This time, he hoped to separate Hyde from himself completely, so while Jekyll was enjoying Mina, Hyde could pursue his own love interests.  
  
However, at this moment, Jekyll wasn't in his lab experimenting; he was in his examining room, bandaging up Tom Sawyer. Clumsy Tom had slipped on the wet corridor after the crewmen had finished washing it, and sprained his right ankle.  
  
"Now, Tom," said Jekyll kindly, "I don't want you on this leg any more today. I want you to go to bed and rest. Tomorrow, I'll fix you up with a pair of crutches."  
  
"Crutches?" Sawyer moaned. "How am I supposed to practice my shooting out on the deck if I have to prop myself up with crutches?"  
  
Jekyll was always ready with an answer. "Just don't stand, then. You can practice your shooting sitting down."  
  
"True," Sawyer mumbled. He didn't want to go to bed; he had way too much energy. Just this morning, he had whipped Rodney Skinner in a fencing match.  
  
But he knew better than to argue with a doctor. So, as much as he didn't want to, he allowed Jekyll to help him up and over to his room to bed.  
  
"How're the experiments going?" Sawyer asked casually, trying to make up for the lack of conversation as Jekyll helped him down the hall to his room.  
  
"Oh, pretty well," Jekyll admitted. "I'm definitely on the verge of a breakthrough. It'll only be a matter of weeks, maybe even days!"  
  
"Is Hyde excited?"  
  
"He most certainly is," Jekyll sighed tiredly. "He's so anxious to have his own body that I had a hard time getting to sleep last night, he kept going on and on about what he was going to do on his own."  
  
Sawyer laughed. "You think he'll stay with us, working for the League? Or will he return to Paris?"  
  
"Oh, I think he's going to stay with the League. I, on the other hand, may be moving back to London."  
  
"Why, Jekyll? You're such a big help." Sawyer lowered his voice. "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have met McCane's beautiful ex-wife, and Mina would still be dead!"  
  
Jekyll nodded, remembering the incident a few months ago when Mina had lie dead from influenza until McCane's ex-wife, an actual angel of Heaven, has resurrected her. The only reason that Batsie Linoge had been on the Nautilus in the first place was to help Jekyll through a difficult emotional time.  
  
They had finally reached Sawyer's room. Jekyll helped his fellow League member into bed, and slipped the covers over him. "Now, if you need anything, I'll be in to check on you periodically."  
  
Sawyer nodded. "Could you do me a favor, though, and send Skinner in here? I'm bored already."  
  
Jekyll forced a laugh. "Certainly. I'm sure he's bored without you." He turned to leave. "But I really must be going. My experiments are waiting."  
  
Sawyer nodded and watched Jekyll leave. He lay back on his pillow, waiting for Skinner to come in and entertain him. If he couldn't have Mina as a girlfriend, he could at least have Rodney Skinner as his best friend.  
  
*  
  
Enjoying it so far? Bear with me, folks, because we're just getting started here. Reviews are very much appreciated, and will be responded to in the next chapter!  
  
~ Alisonia 


	2. Surprise Dinner Guests

I'd like to give a special thank you to Mina, my ONE reviewer. Mina, I'm glad you're happy, because I'm very happy too! I'm glad there's at least one person who reviewed my new story (and liked it, for that matter!)  
  
Here's chapter two. It's not going to be as explanatory as chapter one (meaning it's actually going to have a plot, not just Mina and Jekyll reflecting on how much they love each other (although I do like writing about that!)  
  
Enjoy!  
  
*  
  
After putting Sawyer to bed and telling Skinner to go visit him, Jekyll decided to go to his laboratory and continue some of his experiments. He went to his private lab, shut and locked the door, put on his white lab apron, and picked up the test tube of purple liquid he'd been in the middle of looking at when Sawyer humbled in needing help.  
  
"Let's see," he mumbled to himself as he glanced around the lab table. "Sodium nitrate was the critical ingredient that made Hyde come out in the first place, so I should maybe mix some of that in with this." Jekyll set the purple test tube down and went to his supply cupboard to fetch some sodium nitrate.  
  
He had just located it and brought it out when there was a loud knock at the door.  
  
"Now what?" Jekyll demanded, annoyed. "I'm in the middle of a very important experiment here!!!"  
  
"Doctor!" Captain Nemo's voice called from outside the door. "You hardly ever raise your voice! What if I had been Mina when I knocked?"  
  
"Impossible. Mina doesn't knock that loud," Jekyll called back.  
  
"Even so, I don't believe she has discovered your hidden temper!"  
  
Jekyll sighed loudly. Like everybody else, he did have a temper. He just didn't use it very often; only when he was interrupted in the middle of doing something important, like mixing together a formula to get Hyde out of his body.  
  
"Sorry, Captain," Jekyll apologized. "I know it's not often that I raise my voice. It's just that I'm in the middle of a terribly important experiment."  
  
"I know, and you need a break. Come, it's time for dinner. And if plan on arguing with me about it, I demand that you open this door. I am the captain of this ship, and I refuse to have a verbal argument unless it is conducted face-to-face."  
  
Jekyll didn't want to go to dinner. He wanted to continue his experiments. So he went over to the door, unlocked it, and faced Nemo personally.  
  
"I'm sorry, Captain," Jekyll apologized. "But I really don't feel like eating dinner. I have a feeling that I'm almost done with this formula, and I'm really anxious to finish it."  
  
"Jekyll," Nemo smiled at him. "I knew you would argue with me, so I have three reasons as to why you should eat dinner with us tonight."  
  
"Name them."  
  
"One, you've been cooped in your laboratory all day, and it isn't good for you. Two, Mina will be very upset if you don't come. Three, we have dinner guests tonight."  
  
Jekyll considered these reasons. The first one he could care less about. There had been times when he'd been cooped up in his laboratory for days on end. But the second and third reasons really got to him. He wanted to know who the dinner guests were, and he knew Nemo wouldn't tell him unless he went to eat. And, there was Mina. Imagining the look on Mina's face she learned he wouldn't come sit next to her at dinner broke Jekyll's heart.  
  
"Okay, you've talked me into it, Nemo," Jekyll sighed. "I'm coming."  
  
Nemo clapped his hands together in excitement. "All right, then! Come, the meal awaits!"  
  
* * *  
  
There turned out to be two guests that had come aboard the Nautilus for dinner that evening. The first one was one of Jekyll's most favorite people outside of the League, Andre McCane. The second one was a tall albino woman that Jekyll had never seen before.  
  
"McCane!" Jekyll greeted him with open arms, happy that he had decided to show up at the dinner table after all.  
  
"Doctor Jekyll!" McCane greeted him back, equally enthusiastic. McCane rose from his chair and went over to greet his friend. The two men shook hands.  
  
"So, how have you been?" McCane asked Jekyll. "Mina has just been telling me about your experiments."  
  
Jekyll turned around and spotted Mina at the table, sipping a glass of water. Mina smiled at him.  
  
"Yes, I have. I've been trying to give Edward his own body. As you can imagine, it's quite trying," Jekyll grinned. "What have you been up to lately?"  
  
"Things," McCane replied ambiguously, grinning. "Here, I'd like you to meet someone very special. Henry, this is Donna Andersen," he said, gesturing towards the albino woman. "Donna, this is Dr. Henry Jekyll."  
  
Donna got up from the table and went over to them. Jekyll smiled warmly and shook her hand. "How do you do, Ms. Andersen?"  
  
"Very well, thank you," Donna Andersen replied in a sweet voice. Being an albino, Donna was naturally white all over. Her skin was as pale as the enamel of Mina's fangs; her hair was long, thick, and very white. Her eyes were a dark pink, but they sparkled with joy. Disregarding her albinism, Jekyll guessed that Donna was about as old as McCane himself.  
  
"Donna and I met a few weeks ago in London, and we have been courting for quite a while now," McCane explained slyly.  
  
Jekyll's eyes almost popped out of his head. McCane had said that Donna was special, but he didn't know she was THAT special! Like Jekyll, McCane also had a lady friend!  
  
Jekyll turned back towards Mina to see how she was taking this. Before she had discovered that she was in love with Jekyll, Mina had liked Andre McCane very much. Last New Year's Eve, she had even given him a ring.  
  
Mina did have a pouty look on her face, but Jekyll could see that she would get over it. After all, she had CHOSEN to court Jekyll over McCane, and McCane knew this.  
  
Nemo entered the dining room. "Come, it's time to eat!" he said excitedly, sitting down at the head of the table. Jekyll, McCane, and Donna took their seats at the table; Jekyll sitting next to Mina on Nemo's right, McCane and Donna on Nemo's left.  
  
"Where's Skinner?" asked Jekyll. He knew that Sawyer was confined to bed, but he wasn't sure if Skinner was still in there with him.  
  
"I'm right HERE, Jekyll!" Skinner spoke up. He had been sitting at the opposite end of the table the whole time. Usually he wore some white face paint, or at least a black leather jacket, to announce his presence, but he wasn't wearing anything tonight.  
  
"I'm sorry, Skinner. I didn't know," Jekyll apologized.  
  
Nemo noticed that Skinner's water glass was already empty. "Skinner, you're out of water already." He turned to First Mate Patel, who was behind the table, guarding the door to the kitchen. "Patel, can you please pour Skinner some more water?"  
  
"Don't bother," Donna spoke up. Before anybody could ask why, the water pitcher had risen up out of thin air and water had poured itself out of the pitcher and into Skinner's glass. Everybody except McCane stared at Donna, their mouths open.  
  
"I'm sorry," McCane apologized. "Did I forget to mention that she was telekinetic?"  
  
"Yes, I'd say you did," Mina said, stammering to get her words right.  
  
Jekyll just kept on staring. He knew that McCane had an odd taste in the ladies. Every woman that Andre McCane had ever courted had been strange and unique in some way or another. In fact, McCane had been married once before, and his wife had been an angel. Now, he was in a relationship a telekinetic albino! Where in God's green goodness did he meet these unusual women!?!?!?  
  
"I think that's enough on that subject," Nemo said quickly. "Let's eat."  
  
*  
  
There are plenty of more surprises yet to come! Stay tuned, folks!  
  
~ Alisonia 


	3. Jekyll's Newest Potion

Greetings, readers! Just a few shout-outs before we get started with the next chapter:  
  
To Graymoon74 (for the first review): Okay, I know your imagination is kind of odd (I remember that I asked to borrow it one time,) but that is, by far, the WEIRDEST idea you have ever some up with!!! Jekyll falling for Hyde as a girl!?!?! That's wrong!!! Very funny, but WRONG!!!!!! ^ _ ^ (By the way, I agree that Hyde is a bum. And I agree that Mina embracing her womanly instincts is a good thing. I plan to have her bake cookies in a later chapter!!)  
  
To Mina: You know, I have no idea where he meets these people!! I wish I knew that myself!!  
  
To Graymoon74 (for the second review): I'm willing to see what I'm going to do with them too. = ) However, Valentine's Day is coming up. I think I might use your Hyde-as-a-girl idea after all!!  
  
To Silent Bob 546: All right, another Mina/Jekyll supporter!! Glad to have you on board, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story!!  
  
Okay, enough with the shout-outs (I've run out of reviews to respond to, anyway.) Let's get on with the story!  
  
*  
  
It had been, without a doubt, the most unusual and uncomfortable dinner Mina had ever sat through on the Nautilus.  
  
Mina had felt so awkward she had barely eaten anything. She knew that it would be difficult to tell McCane that she was now courting Henry. After all, McCane had been her first love. She had kissed him so many times that she lost count.  
  
She had broken McCane's heart, but now he had come back and broken hers! What did that albino woman have that Mina didn't?!?!?  
  
"Come now, old girl, you're being silly and selfish," Mina scolded herself silently. "You never really loved Andre McCane, you just thought you did. That man is way out of your league; you never even had a chance with him! You love Henry, and Henry alone."  
  
Satisfied with this comment, Mina smiled and continued working on her scarf while rocking back and forth in her rocking chair. Maybe she would bake a batch of cookies later. Baking cookies was good.  
  
Mina checked the grandfather clock in her room and noticed that it was almost ten o' clock. Time sure flew by when you were knitting!  
  
Mina thought about going to bed, but then thought again. With all these emotions running through her, these emotions of uneasiness, doubt, pain, and true love, there would be no way in the world that she would be able to sleep. As she continued to knit away, Mina wondered where her love Henry was at this hour.  
  
Silly question. He was in his laboratory. Lately, he'd been in his laboratory every night. Knowing her love was working away obsessively at dangerous experiments made Mina shiver and knit even faster. She sure hoped he'd get out of this okay.  
  
* * *  
  
"Edward, I think this is it," Henry Jekyll said slowly, holding up a test tube of some odd-looking green liquid.  
  
"Don't be silly, Henry," Edward Hyde laughed. Jekyll was facing a mirror, so he could communicate with his alter-ego while he worked. "You only started your research a few days ago. You couldn't possibly be done this quickly."  
  
"I know, but I truly believe this is it. This is the potion that will separate me from you!" Jekyll exclaimed, growing more and more excited by the second.  
  
"But what if it doesn't work?" Hyde asked impatiently. "In fact, what if it makes the situation harder to undo? What if it makes one of us disappear completely?" For the first time in his life, Edward Hyde was starting to get extremely worried.  
  
"I wouldn't care very much if it was you that disappeared," Jekyll mumbled.  
  
"HEY!!!!" Hyde roared, almost breaking through the mirror with his anger.  
  
Jekyll laughed. "I'm just kidding, Edward."  
  
"You'd very well better be, you WORM!!!"  
  
"Now, now, Edward. Calm down, it was just a little joke between egos."  
  
"I'll do the joking from now on, if you don't mind," said Hyde coldly.  
  
"Hyde, if this potion works, you can do whatever you want from now on," Jekyll mused, staring at the bright green test tube.  
  
"Yeah," Hyde added, looking ahead at all of the possibilities. "I could go into vaudeville and be up on the stage. I could be the world's most experienced prostitute. I could even go to medical school and become a more successful doctor than you."  
  
Jekyll laughed. "I very highly doubt that, but it's a possibility."  
  
"Well, what are you waiting for, Henry? Drink up, I want to get out of here! Your body's too small to hold me anymore!!!"  
  
Jekyll set the test tube down and picked up a pen. "Okay, let me just make a record first." He opened his scientific journal and began to write. "'Day six, 11:03 pm,'" he said aloud as he wrote. "'Have finished a preliminary formula that I will now test out on myself. Hopefully, this will separate the body of myself, Henry Jekyll, from that of Edward Hyde.'" He put his pen down and picked up the green test tube again.  
  
"Of course," he muttered. "I know it may mean death to drink it. Some of the chemicals may react violently inside of me and kill me, or something else may happen, something I did not intend at all." Jekyll then shivered. "And Mina. Poor little Mina, who might be all alone after this. I can't bear to see that happen!"  
  
"Oh, will you quit worrying and drink it?!?!?" Hyde shrieked inside of the mirror. "Drink it before I reach out, grab it, and shove it down your bloody throat!!!!!"  
  
Jekyll took a deep and shaky breath. "Okay. I am a desperate man, aren't I? So, I guess I'm going to go for it." He held out the test tube in front of him and toasted. "Mina, dear, this one's for you. I love you, Mina." And with those words, Henry Jekyll swallowed the potion.  
  
With a shaky hand, he put down the empty test tube and waiting silently. Nothing was happening yet.  
  
"DAMN IT!!!" Hyde roared in anger. He then began to curse in such a horrifying manner that this author does not dare repeat his words.  
  
"Hold on, Edward," Jekyll said quietly. "It may take a while to work. It took nearly three minutes for you to appear after I drank that first potion so many years ago." Hyde just sighed impatiently, but at least he quit swearing.  
  
Suddenly and without warning, Jekyll doubled over in horror. Such sharp pains were shooting through his stomach that he moaned like a dying man.  
  
"Henry?" asked Hyde worriedly, from the mirror. "Are you all right?"  
  
But the pains grew more and more sharp. Jekyll's face was red, and his eyes burned with tears of pain. He moaned again, in horrifying ache. In desperate pain, Jekyll reached over, grabbed an empty silver bowl off of the lab table, and vomited into it.  
  
"Henry?" asked Hyde, even more panicked. "Henry, are you okay?!?!"  
  
Because he was so worried about his alter-ego, Edward Hyde had not even noticed that his image had completely vanished from the mirror, and that his full form was standing upright in front of it.  
  
Edward Hyde had been separated from Henry Jekyll.  
  
* * *  
  
Meanwhile, in the next room over (McCane's room,) McCane, Skinner, and Donna Andersen were engaged in playing a friendly game of cards.  
  
At least, it had been friendly five minutes ago. Now, the cards had been thrown all over the place in anger, and the three players were accusing each other of cheating.  
  
Donna had telekinetically levitated a heavy armchair over Skinner and was about to drop on it his head when McCane heard Jekyll's great moan of pain from next door.  
  
"HOLD IT!!" McCane shouted just as Skinner was about to swing a crowbar at him. "Did you all hear that?"  
  
"Hear what?" asked Skinner and Donna simultaneously. Just then, they heard his second moan.  
  
"That!" McCane said. "It sounds like Henry's dying!"  
  
"Well, for pete's sake, let's go help him!!" Donna shouted.  
  
The three card players dropped the weapons they were using to attack each other and raced out of McCane's room, heading next door to Jekyll's laboratory.  
  
*  
  
The potion has worked! But will Jekyll ever recover, or the potion end up killing him? Stay tuned for the next chapter!  
  
(By the way, reviews are highly accepted, and may sway my view in what I decide to write for the next chapter!)  
  
~ Alisonia 


	4. The Fatal Mistake

I'm so angry! I had chapter four all written out on a disk two days ago, but then the disk went kaput, so I had to REWRITE THE CHAPTER!!!!! And I heard that saving files to disks was the safe way to go. Not anymore!  
  
(Ten minutes later) Okay, I'm calmed down now, and ready to do my shout-outs. Here they are.  
  
To the Sardonic One: Which are you shivering more in, hunger or anticipation? I just ate dinner, so for me, it's probably more anticipation. But I'm anxious to try anything that Mina cooks.  
  
To Naitriab: Mina is so smitten with Jekyll that she's been driven to do things such as knit and bake. Deep in her heart, she knows that Jekyll may be the one that heals her heartache over Jonathan, so she's practicing to possibly become a housewife again!  
  
To Graymoon74: Sorry, but I don't think Mina will share any of her cookies. She's giving them all to Jekyll! However, I'll be sure to have a talk with her about baking some more to share with you all. And don't worry, there's plenty of milk!!  
  
To Mina: I'm truly sorry, Mina, but you're going to have to wait until the NEXT chapter to see if Henry dies or not!! Read this chapter, and you'll see what I mean!!  
  
To Silent Bob 546: You and I should start a "Mina/Jekyll Pairing Fan Club." It'll be for everybody who thinks Mina and Jekyll should be together. By the way, I agree. Poor Skinner. Heh.  
  
After reading so many other fics in which the authors are drawn by the characters into their own stories (mostly after the characters look to them in either help or disgust,) I have decided to write myself into this chapter. I hope you all enjoy it!!  
  
Happy reading!  
  
*  
  
McCane, Skinner, and Donna all scrambled out of McCane's room to Jekyll's laboratory next door. As they burst in, Skinner tripped over a large crate in the middle of the floor and started swearing up a storm.  
  
McCane sighs and turns to me, the author. "Miss Nowicki, has Skinner any courtesy at all? First, he cheats at poker. Now, he's swearing in front of a lady!"  
  
"Sorry, Andre," I tell him. "I'm afraid not. Unlike you, Skinner is a man of very low moral standards." I don't even bother to tell him that Skinner is, in fact, swearing in front of two ladies: Donna AND myself.  
  
McCane sighs again and returns his attention to the matter at hand.  
  
"DAMN CRATE!" Skinner continued to shout. "GO TO HELL LIKE DORIAN!!!!"  
  
"SHUT UP!!!" Hyde barked at him. Skinner promptly shut up.  
  
"Who IS that?" Donna asked, pointing frighteningly to Hyde.  
  
"That's Edward Hyde. He's Henry's alter-ego," McCane explained to her.  
  
"Henry has an alter-ego?" asked Donna. She backed up a few paces, looking both scared and confused.  
  
But McCane wasn't listening to her anymore. He and Skinner had just done several double takes each. Hyde was standing in front of a mirror. Ten feet away, Jekyll was collapsed on the floor, moaning and holding his stomach and chest. He continued to vomit into the silver bowl. Edward Hyde and Henry Jekyll were now in two different bodies.  
  
"Jekyll, you've done it!" said Skinner, leaping ten feet into the air. "You and Hyde are separated!"  
  
"True, but the potion is having horrible effects on him," said McCane, worried. He began barking out orders. "Hyde, I'm sending you for help. Go get the Captain and tell him it's an emergency." Hyde nodded and immediately set off.  
  
McCane continued. "Skinner and Donna, you two attend to Henry until the Captain gets here. I'm going to try to find an ingredients list for the potion Jekyll just took and determine what is causing his body to react so violently to it."  
  
Skinner and Donna both nodded and went over to Jekyll. Donna knelt down, hugged Henry to her chest, and began patting him on the back gently. Skinner started patting him on the shoulder and telling him everything was going to be okay.  
  
McCane frantically searched the lab table. Finding Jekyll's scientific journal, he flipped through it until he found a list of the potion ingredients.  
  
Glancing down upon it, he saw immediately why Jekyll's stomach was reacting so violently to the potion. Two of the ingredients were water and liquid potassium.  
  
Knowing a few things about chemistry himself, McCane knew that when water was mixed with pure potassium, a small explosion usually resulted. He knew that Jekyll knew this, but Jekyll was probably so excited about finally being able to separate himself from his alter-ego that he didn't realize his mistake.  
  
McCane didn't know how long it had been since Jekyll had swallowed the potion, but McCane knew one thing. Unless somebody did something, and quick, Jekyll wasn't going to make it out of this one alive.  
  
"Problem solved," McCane mumbled audibly.  
  
"You don't sound too convinced, old chap," Skinner said, looking over at him while continuing to help Jekyll.  
  
"I'm convinced about the problem, I'm just not convinced that he'll make it out alive," McCane said worriedly, walking over to them. He explained about the water and potassium.  
  
Jekyll looked up from the bowl into which he'd been vomiting. His face was horribly pale and his hands shook. "You're k-kidding," he mumbled, stuttering and slurring his words together horribly. "I-I c-can't believe I d-didn't c-catch that."  
  
"Shhh," Donna hushed him. "You're slurring, Henry. Just take several deep breaths and try to regain control of yourself." Henry Jekyll tried, but he turned even paler and leaned over to vomit again.  
  
"It's okay, Jekyll," Skinner said, patting Jekyll comfortingly on the back. "Hyde's gone to get Nemo. Nemo will know what to do; you're going to be fine." Skinner only sounded half-convincing.  
  
"Maybe one of us should get Mina," Donna noted. "Maybe Mina will calm him down."  
  
"Donna, it's not a question of calming him down. It's a question of getting him to regain control of his body. He's just consumed who knows how much explosive liquid!" McCane exclaimed. Donna just nodded and continued to kneel over Henry.  
  
"Besides, we don't want Mina to worry, now do we?" Skinner asked.  
  
Before anyone could answer this, Hyde burst back into the laboratory. Right behind him was Nemo. It was clear that the pair had ran all the way here; Hyde was panting heavily, and Nemo was doubled over and trying to catch his breath. It was hard to keep up with someone twice as big as you were, especially when it came to running.  
  
"What's the problem?" asked Nemo, as he continued to catch his breath.  
  
Quickly, McCane explained. "Henry's potion worked, but he's poisoned himself. Two of the ingredients in his potion are slightly explosive when coming in contact, and now his stomach is suffering a violent reaction."  
  
"Is there any way we can make a potion to reverse the effects?" Nemo asked immediately.  
  
"Probably, yes. But I wouldn't know how to make it," McCane said worriedly. "I'm not that experienced of a chemist."  
  
Nemo thought. "Mina," he said, almost immediately. He turned to Hyde. "Edward, get Mrs. Harker and bring her here right away. Tell her we need her chemistry expertise."  
  
Hyde nodded, and before anyone could blink an eye, had run out the door again to fetch Mina. McCane frowned. In all of his excitement, he had forgotten that Mina was an expert chemist. He should have followed Donna's suggestion.  
  
"Don't worry, Doctor," said Nemo confidently. "You're going to make it. We have Mina on our side."  
  
Jekyll just nodded. He was tired, ill, proud of himself for making a successful potion, and ashamed of himself for making such a stupid mistake. He wanted nothing more than to go to bed.  
  
"If I die," Jekyll gasped, "everything I own goes to Mina. No exceptions. And be sure to tell her that I love her."  
  
"You can't die!" Skinner practically screamed. "You WON'T die!" Skinner turns to me, hysterical. "Alisonia, love, tell Jekyll that he won't die!"  
  
But I have to keep my mouth shut on that issue. "I can't tell him a thing about what's going to happen to him. That would be cheating. And you're the cheater, Skinner, not me."  
  
Skinner stares at me, open-mouthed. "When did I cheat on anything?" he demands angrily.  
  
"Ten minutes ago in McCane's room, playing cards," I reply casually.  
  
"I didn't cheat!" Skinner shrieks. "Donna did!"  
  
Donna's eyes go as big as headlights. "I did NOT cheat, Rodney Skinner!"  
  
"Did too!"  
  
"Did not!"  
  
And so, while Henry Jekyll lay dying at their feet, Skinner, Donna, and pretty soon McCane, went back to arguing over their card game.  
  
*  
  
Sorry, but nobody will know whether Jekyll dies or not until the next chapter.  
  
By the way, how does everybody like my moments of author intrusion? I'm trying to lighten up the drama a bit. Write a review and tell me if I should keep this up or not.  
  
~ Alisonia 


	5. Mina Saves the Day

Okay, I so I was away for the weekend, and I come back here to update the story. However, just when I finished writing the chapter, the computer crashed, and I had to write the chapter all over again!!! It seems as if there's something out there that does not want me to finish this story (maybe because they're afraid of what's going to happen to Jekyll. Who knows.)  
  
Speaking of being afraid, here are the shout-outs:  
  
To Mina: YES!!!  
  
To Bamfwriter: You were good to point that out, but I have an explanation. You see, I use past tense when I'm discussing the main story action, and I switch to present tense when that action is put on hold and a character talks to me. It's like a director yelling 'Cut!', talking with the actor, and then yelling 'Action!' again. I know it's confusing, and I'm trying to work something else out. I haven't mastered bold and italics on fanfiction.net yet.  
  
To Silent Bob 546: I have an explanation for that too. You see, to people like Skinner (and McCane, and Donna,) money is very important. They have money on the poker game, not on Jekyll, so of course they're going to put poker first. Donna has another explanation for this (which she explains to Nemo in this next chapter,) but I'm sticking by my reason.  
  
And now, back to the story.  
  
*  
  
Skinner, McCane, and Donna were still arguing over their card game.  
  
"WILL ALL OF YOU SHUT UP NOW!!!!" Nemo screamed at them. "Henry Jekyll is dying at our feet, and all you three can think about is a silly poker game??? Honestly!!!!"  
  
Skinner and McCane looked ashamed of themselves, but Donna spoke up. "It's a psychology trick, Captain," she explained. "Jekyll's ailing is too much for us to bear, so our minds are forced to vent out all of our anger, frustration, and disappointment through another issue, such as the card game."  
  
Nemo was so impressed with her reasoning that he didn't shout at them anymore. Instead, he knelt down next to Jekyll and comforted the poor doctor.  
  
Hyde burst through the laboratory door, carrying Mina in his large arms. Putting her down, he carefully helped her to her feet. "Mrs. Harker was in so much shock that she was unable to walk upright," he explained to them in his normal growl. "I had to carry her here."  
  
"Mina," said Nemo urgently. "Henry has succeeded in making a potion to separate himself from Edward, but two of the ingredients in it reacted violently with each other when he swallowed it, and it's poisoned him. Can you make an antidote?"  
  
"Possibly," Mina shook, still in shock at her beloved Henry laying ill on the floor. "M-may I s-see the ingredient list, please?"  
  
McCane picked it up from the lab table and handed it to her. Mina took it with shaking hands. For weeks now, she had dreamt of her Henry's safety in the laboratory. Now, her worst nightmares were finally coming true.  
  
McCane pointed out the problem, and Mina breathed a sigh of relief. "This problem is easy to fix," she breathed. "I just worry we might be too late! Andre, could you get me a beaker, please?"  
  
"Certainly." Andre McCane got an empty beaker down from a shelf.  
  
Meanwhile, Donna and Skinner were STILL arguing over the card game.  
  
"You knew that I had two aces in my hand," said Donna, her eyes flashing.  
  
"I did NOT know that you had two aces in your hand," Skinner replied, his temper becoming increasingly short. "But, I WOULD have seen if you had held your cards at an angle that would have been easy for me to see."  
  
"AHA! You admit it! You looked at my hand!"  
  
"I said IF I looked at your hand!!" Skinner practically screamed.  
  
"Don't ask," McCane muttered to Mina as he filled the beaker with a considerable amount of water.  
  
"I wasn't going to," Mina muttered back, though sounding a bit amused.  
  
A few feet away, Hyde had picked up Jekyll and held him in his arms. "He can't die," Hyde said slowly and sulkily. "Henry Jekyll gave me life. He can't die."  
  
Nemo, who didn't know the truth and didn't want to, tried to ignore that statement. "Edward, carry Henry over to his bed. He'll rest easier."  
  
Hyde slowly carried Jekyll out the laboratory door and into his bedroom. He carefully laid his creator down on the bed. As Jekyll moaned and clutched his heart, Nemo spread a blanket across him.  
  
"Do you think that the acid has already torn through his stomach, and is now ready to eat through his heart as well?" Nemo asked Hyde worriedly.  
  
"Nah. He'd be dead by now," said Hyde matter-of-factly. Hyde wasn't very intelligent, but he did know quite a bit about death and the causes of death.  
  
"Got it!" Mina announced from the doorway, holding up a beaker of bright blue liquid.  
  
Nemo and Hyde turned around. "Already?" Nemo asked. "That was quick."  
  
"I told you it was easy," Mina breathed. "You see, water and potassium create an explosion, so I had to create a mixture of water and another chemical that would cause an implosion. When you mix a positive with a negative, everything becomes neutral!"  
  
"Explanations later," Hyde said impatiently. "Just give it to him!"  
  
Nemo moved out of the way. Mina went over to her love's bedside and tilted Henry's head up with her right arm. Gently, she whispered to him. "Henry, dear, drink this, now. It's the antidote; it'll make you better."  
  
Henry just looked weary. Very carefully, Mina got the blue liquid inside his mouth, helped him to swallow, and then stepped back.  
  
Henry Jekyll lie panting on the bed.  
  
"Doctor? Are you okay?" asked Nemo.  
  
Jekyll nodded, still panting. "I'll be fine. It just takes a moment to settle." Still breathing heavily, he faced Mina. "Oh, Mina, you saved my life!! I can't thank you enough!!"  
  
Jekyll embraced Mina, giving her the biggest hug she had ever had. Mina gently kissed him, bringing her tender lips to his.  
  
Hugging Mina and looking over her shoulder, Jekyll noticed something wrong. "Uh oh."  
  
"What's wrong, Doctor?" asked Nemo.  
  
"Edward's not here anymore. When I drank the antidote, he went back inside me," Jekyll realized.  
  
"Great," moaned Skinner from the laboratory doorway.  
  
"Edward? Are you in there?" Jekyll asked himself silently.  
  
"Yeah, Henry, I'm here," Hyde grumbled. He sighed. "But you better not give up, worm!"  
  
"No, I'm not giving up!" said Jekyll aloud, weak but determined. "Tomorrow morning, I'm going back into that laboratory and working until I get it right. There was something in that potion that worked! But this time," he added sheepishly. "I'll be careful to check the ingredients before I swallow anything."  
  
"You'd better!" cried Mina, hugging him.  
  
Jekyll embraced Mina again. "Well, it's been a tiring evening. I think I'd better get some sleep."  
  
"I agree," nodded Nemo. "You get some rest too, Mina. I'll get McCane to clean up the laboratory."  
  
All of a sudden, a great explosion rocked the Nautilus. Jekyll and Nemo quickly grabbed bedposts to brace themselves, but Mina was thrown off of the bed and onto the floor. Skinner slid down from the doorway and fell on top of Mina.  
  
"Nice," smiled Skinner, reaching for her hair.  
  
"Off, you!!" Mina shouted, throwing him off of her.  
  
"What in God's name was that??!?!" came McCane's voice from the laboratory. "Now there's acid all over the floor in here!!!" Jekyll groaned.  
  
Mina and Skinner struggled to stand up. Jekyll ran a hand through his reddish-brown hair, panting again.  
  
Nemo was angry. "I INTEND to find out what in God's name that was!!!" he shouted, and stalked towards the door.  
  
He had his hand on the knob when it opened. First Mate Patel stood in the doorway to Jekyll's bedroom. "Captain, we're being attacked!"  
  
Skinner braced himself against a bedpost. Mina and Henry hugged each other, and Mina gasped.  
  
"We're being attacked? By whom?" roared Nemo, slightly disbelieving.  
  
"By our own Nautiloid, Captain!"  
  
*  
  
I'm sorry, but I just can't resist writing cliffhangers. It brings me satisfaction to know the readers (most of them, anyway) will come back for the next chapter to see what happens.  
  
Remember to REVIEW!!!  
  
~ Alisonia 


	6. The Culprit

I'm really tired, but I've managed to get the next chapter of this thing done before I turn in for the evening.  
  
To Melanie: Finish for you? You don't even need to ask; you know I'm going to!  
  
To Silent Bob 546: Yeah, I like to have a little fun by making Skinner dirty. And yeah, I know that cliffhangers are extremely annoying, but like I said before, it practically guarantees that readers will come back to read the rest of the story.  
  
To Mina: Wahoo  
  


* * *

  
To Graymoon74 (for chapter four): Yes am talking to the characters now, and I hope you don't mind!! I just found it so funny when you did it. And of course I won't kill Jekyll!!  
  
To Graymoon74 (for chapter five): Why is it wrong to separate the two of them? Jekyll will be happy, Hyde will be happy, Mina will be happy, we'll all be happy! And why was the explosion so big? Well, why don't you ask the person that did it?  
  
There you all go. By the way, I'm sorry if this chapter is kind of choppy. I was half asleep when I wrote it. Oh, well. Enjoy chapter six.  
  
*  
  
"Our own Nautiloid?" Nemo asked, his jaw scraping the floor. (I hand Skinner a shovel, and Skinner is able to scrape Nemo's jaw off the floor.)  
  
"That's impossible!" cried Mina from the bed, still cuddling Henry. She sounded terrified. "It was destroyed in the explosion of M's fortress."  
  
"Mrs. Harker, in our line of duty, nothing is impossible," Nemo replied. He turned to First Mate Patel. "Assume magnetic sucking immediately. We are to meet our attacker."  
  
"Yes, Captain," Patel replied, and left.  
  
"Magnetic sucking? The Nautiloid is drawn to us by magnets?" asked McCane, who had appeared in the laboratory doorway. His clothes were doused in chemicals.  
  
"Yes, powerful underwater magnets that are only capable of working when the magnetic field is activated," Nemo replied. "Excuse me, I must be off." He hurried after Patel.  
  
"McCane, what's all over your clothes?" cried Jekyll. "I hope it's not an acid!"  
  
"No, it's your potion, Henry."  
  
Jekyll groaned again. "Well, we'll clean it up later. I'm compelled to follow the Captain." And he got up from bed.  
  
(At this point, I reach in. "No, you're not!" I yell at him, and try to shove him back down on the bed. "You're staying in bed and resting. Mina, back me up on this!" Mina nods, and Skinner jumps in.  
  
"Yeah, the author's right, mate," Skinner adds.  
  
Jekyll sighs. "Miss Nowicki, do forgive me for being so rude to a lady, but I really don't care what you have to say. You may be the author, but as you pointed out in the disclaimer, you don't own me. So I'm going.")  
  
Jekyll got out of bed, threw on his bathrobe, and hurried after Nemo. Mina ran after him, still looking terrified. Skinner sighed, swore very loudly, and ran after them.  
  
McCane watched them leave from the laboratory doorway, and turned back inside to the laboratory. It was a total mess...broken glass littered the floor, there were chemicals spilled everywhere, and the stools and other furniture were shoved completely out of place.  
  
"So, what should we do?" McCane asked Donna, sounding a bit sarcastic. "Should we be good little helpers and clean up the laboratory, or go see what all of the fuss is about like the others?"  
  
"Are you kidding?" Donna muttered under her breath. She linked McCane's arm in her own, and together, they ran off to join the others.  
  


* * *

  
"We have the Nautiloid in our possession, Captain," First Mate Patel reported as he watched the Nautilus' exploration pod being sucked back into the Nautilus' control.  
  
"Good," Nemo grinned. "If we're lucky, whoever-he-is will come aboard without giving us any trouble, and kindly explain to us why he was attacking us."  
  
"If we're lucky," Skinner pointed out. "Which we usually aren't."  
  
"Shhh!" Donna hushed, stomping on his foot. "You'll jinx us!"  
  
Skinner opened his mouth, about ready to say that they were already jinxed, but then McCane stomped on HIS foot.  
  
"Rodney, don't even start," McCane warned him. Skinner pouted.  
  
The League members watched on the radar screen as the person occupying the Nautiloid left the exploration pod and climbed up a tunnel to enter the main body of the ship.  
  
"I wonder if the American lad is all right," Skinner mused. "Should one of us check on him?"  
  
"I already did, about half an hour ago," Nemo reported. "He was fast asleep. He should be fine."  
  
"His ankle should heal shortly. He'll be walking again in a few days," Jekyll commented quietly. He and Mina were cuddling each other and looking very scared. "Mina, calm down," Jekyll shook, hugging her. "You're shaking all over!"  
  
"Henry, that's you!" Mina croaked, her voice equally shaky. "You're the one shaking!"  
  
"Both of you are going to be fine," McCane said calmly. "The Captain is in control. Everything will turn out okay."  
  
"Thank you, McCane," Nemo acknowledged him.  
  
"No problem, Captain."  
  
"Honestly, Mina, I'm surprised at you," Nemo went on. "What happened to the Mina Harker I used to know, the one that was tough as nails?"  
  
"She met Henry Jekyll, fell in love, and adopted his sense of nervousness," Skinner said.  
  
Mina let go of Henry and posed to lunge at Skinner, but just then, two crew members came crashing through the doors to the ship's bridge, escorting with them an all-too-familiar man in a gray Victorian leisure suit and dark hair down to his shoulders. Here is the attacker, Captain," the first crew member said.  
  
"DORIAN!!!"  
  
Upon recognizing him, Mina had screamed out his name in horror. She tried to grab Henry Jekyll, but Jekyll had fainted, so she grabbed McCane instead. Nemo's jaw had dropped to the floor again. (I hand Skinner the shovel again, but Skinner isn't paying attention. He's staring at Dorian in disbelief.) McCane and Donna were just staring at each other in confusion. They had never seen Dorian Gray before.  
  
"Who's this joker?" McCane grunted, nudging an elbow toward Dorian.  
  
Donna had turned from staring at McCane to staring at Dorian. "God," she mumbled, and proceeded to insult him. "You, sir, have the longest hair I have ever seen on an Englishman."  
  
"How d'you know he's English?" McCane asked her.  
  
"The suit," Donna shrugged.  
  
Dorian Gray was infuriated. Never before had people teased him like this. "I, sir, am Dorian Gray," Dorian said to McCane in a snooty tone. "And I have come for Mina Harker. Give her up freely, and nobody gets hurt."  
  
"Never," said McCane simply. (Remember, Jekyll had fainted. He couldn't defend her.)  
  
"You, sir, are getting on my nerves!"  
  
"And you, sir, are getting on mine," McCane replied. "Mina cannot go with you. She belongs to Dr. Henry Jekyll."  
  
Dorian's eyes blazed. His nose flared, and he screamed out in frustration and anger. "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!?!?!"  
  
"You heard him, mate," said Skinner, who had found his voice somewhere. "She's 'Enry's now. You had your chance, Gray, but you bloody well blew it."  
  
"Shove it, Skinner! I came for Mina, and I am not leaving without her."  
  
"Well, it looks like you're going to be here forever, then," McCane taunted.  
  
Dorian Gray laughed. "That's just fine by me. Forever is just the amount of time I have."  
  
*  
  
How did Dorian survive the painting? What measures will he resort to in getting Mina back? What will the others do to stop him? Find out in the next exciting episode!  
  
(By the way, don't forget to review this one!)  
  
~ Alisonia 


	7. A Bodyguard for Mina

I didn't know where this story was going next, so I had to take the time to map out where exactly I was planning to go with this thing. But I'm back now.  
  
To galebalesh (for chapter five): Who are you? *I give you a blank stare until you explain* DUDE! Yeah, of course I remember you! Thanks for telling me I rock! (By the way, I was going to have Dorian say, "Give me what I want, and I'll go away" when he came on board, but that would kind of make this a crossover story, don't you think?)  
  
To Graymoon74: Yeah, I'm very upset that I don't own Jekyll and that he does stuff I don't want him to do. I get very upset at him for that. He and I need to have a little author-to-character talk.  
  
To galebalesh (for chapter six): "Oh holy crap" is right. That's exactly what I said.  
  
To Melanie: Yeah, I don't quite get Dorian in that way either. What in his head convinced him that Mina was his? But don't worry, I WILL get him good. Gauranteed.  
  
To deztiny78: Thanks for the review! About the moments of author intrusion; I'm going to have to figure something out to make both you and Graymoon74 happy. And yes, there is an excellent chance that Batsie and her husband will be appearing in this story. Starting with this chapter!  
  
To Silent Bob 546: Yep, he's alive. And he probably could kill off Henry at any time now. Darn immortals.  
  
To AnonymousLove: I loved the "GASPETH!" For some reason, that makes me think of Skinner; I don't know why. And how did Dorian die? Well, you'll find out soon enough.  
  
To jprime: You want more? You got it!  
  
So, here it is, folks. Chapter seven.  
  
*  
  
Mina's legs shook. Her stomach felt like a bowl of jello, and her face was a sickly shade of green. She hadn't felt this bad physically since she had that horrible vampire flu a few months ago.  
  
Dorian had been taken by the crewmen and chained up downstairs in the ship's dungeon. The League members didn't even know that Nemo had a dungeon on the Nautilus, but apparently, it had been built just for the purpose of imprisoning attackers.  
  
But Henry was in danger. Mina had no doubt in her mind that Dorian would murder Henry Jekyll if he got the chance, for the sole purpose of getting Mina. But Mina didn't know why Dorian wanted her so much! She wasn't his lover or his property.  
  
Immediately after Dorian had been taken away, Nemo had ordered two more crewmen to escort Mina to bed. Mina didn't want to go to bed...even though it was one in the morning, she wouldn't be able to sleep at all. She was way too scared.  
  
In her room, Mina had had a cup of tea to calm her nerves, and was now at her vanity table getting ready for bed. She could at least TRY to get some sleep.  
  
Mina washed her face in her washbasin. The cool water was a surprise to her clammy face, but it kind of felt good, in a shocking way. Maybe, if she couldn't sleep, she would get up and take a cold shower. That's what Henry did when things got too unbearable for him, anyway.  
  
She got her white silk nightgown from her closet. Since her own bathroom was being remodeled, she had to use the one down the hall to change.  
  
Mina opened her bedroom door to go down the hall, but she found she couldn't go anywhere. The bulky form of Edward Hyde was blocking her doorway.  
  
"Edward?" asked Mina, wearily.  
  
Hyde turned around. "Get back in your room," he growled at her menacingly. (Dorian or no Dorian, Hyde was still jealous of Jekyll being in love.) "You aren't allowed to come out."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Nemo said so. He sent me to guard your door and protect you from intruders."  
  
"Dorian," Mina thought silently. She shuddered. "Where is Henry?" she asked him quietly. "He hasn't taken his poisonous water-and-potassium potion again, hasn't he?"  
  
Hyde growled at her. "You got a mirror?"  
  
Mina dashed over to her vanity table, picked up a pocket mirror, and went back to her bedroom doorway and handed it to him. Hyde held out the mirror in front of him, so he and Mina could both see themselves in it. However, instead of Hyde's reflection, Dr. Henry Jekyll was staring back at her.  
  
"There you are, Henry!" Mina said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I was so afraid you had poisoned yourself again!"  
  
Henry smiled warmly. "No, of course not, honey. This way, Edward and I could both guard you. Which, by the way, was NOT Nemo's idea. It was mine."  
  
Mina believed him. Edward had just lied to her out of jealousy.  
  
"Listen, Mina, honey," Jekyll continued. "I want you to try and get a good night's sleep, okay? Don't worry, Edward and I will be here all night. I don't want you leaving your room for any reason whatsoever."  
  
Mina nodded, still shaking and pale. "But, Henry," she whined. "I feel so sick...do you think I could have a sedative?"  
  
The good doctor looked at her through the mirror. "Of course you can, dear. I think it'll go you some good anyway." He turned to face his altar- ego. "Edward, escort Mina to McCane's room. I need to speak with him anyway."  
  
Edward growled again, grabbed Mina forcefully by the arm, and dragged her off.  
  
* * *  
  
"This is REDICULOUS!!!"  
  
In Andre McCane's room, Skinner had been teaching Donna the art of interpretive dance. Once, Skinner and Sawyer had performed an interpretive dance to a poem that Mina had written. Now, Skinner felt the urge to do interpretive dance again. But since Sawyer was laid up in bed with a bum ankle, he needed another person to dance with. That's where Donna came in.  
  
Skinner was teaching Donna using a poem that McCane had written to his ex-wife, Batsie McCane (now Batsie Linoge) many years ago. Surprisingly, McCane didn't mind a bit. But after a few minutes of dancing, Donna thought the whole thing was stupid.  
  
"It is NOT ridiculous, you're just not getting it!"  
  
"I'm getting it perfectly fine, thank you very much. I just think there's no point to it!"  
  
"Oh, can you two put a lid on it?" snapped Andre McCane from his desk. "I'm trying to finish writing this report!" McCane had not even bothered to turn around. He could see them perfectly with the eyes in the back of his head (1).  
  
"Sorry, dear," Donna apologized to him.  
  
"Yeah, we'll go to my room to finish," Skinner piped up.  
  
"No, we're not finishing. I quit!"  
  
"AAAAGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!" McCane screeched in agony.  
  
There was a knock at the door. All three of them turned toward it to see Dr. Jekyll and Mina standing there. Jekyll had taken a potion to turn back into himself. He thought that Edward Hyde trying to talk medicine with McCane would be a bit fruitless.  
  
"McCane, could you help me out for a moment?" Jekyll asked him. "Mina wants a sedative, and my nerves are shot. I'm afraid I might give her the wrong one."  
  
"Certainly, Henry," said McCane, getting up from his desk. "Follow me." He led Mina and Jekyll into his own laboratory, leaving Skinner and Donna to argue again.  
  
* * *  
  
After noting Mina's shaky condition, McCane had taken a couple of pills from his supply cupboard and pressed them into her hand. "Just take these when you go to sleep, Mina. You'll wake up tomorrow feeling much better."  
  
Mina nodded. "Thanks, Andre."  
  
"Sure, sure."  
  
Mina looked at him. "Are you scared?"  
  
McCane laughed. "Me, scared? Of whom?"  
  
"Dorian! He's a monster! You don't know how much of a cold-blooded villain he is, Andre! And he's immortal, you know!"  
  
McCane shook his head, still laughing. "Mina," he said. "You're forgetting something. We also have a cold blooded immortal villain on our side."  
  
"Who?" asked Mina, confused. Hyde was a cold-blooded villain, but he wasn't immortal. Besides him, Mina couldn't think of anybody else.  
  
"Well, actually, he's not a cold-blooded villain ANYMORE, but he still kills and destroys if he has to for his job," McCane continued.  
  
"But who is it?" asked Jekyll.  
  
"Batsie's husband," McCane said simply. "Simon Linoge. He used to work for Satan, you know."  
  
*  
  
(1) In my story, "The End of the LXG," I explain all about McCane's rather unusual eyesight.  
  
I hope everyone enjoyed chapter seven. I know I didn't explain how Dorian was able to come back from the dead, but I'll do that in a later chapter, I promise!  
  
Remember to review!  
  
~ Alisonia 


	8. Attempt 1: Simon Linoge

Okay, this is where the story really starts to get interesting. In my opinion, any time Simon or Batsie shows up is a time to get interested in the story!  
  
To galebalesh: You know, I read your profile too, and I also liked what was on there. (Except for one thing; I kind of like pink and makeup and dresses, and I wouldn't mind going to etiquette school!) Which totally contrasts some of the other things I like. I'm starting to think I'm developing an alter-ego, like Jekyll! Oh, well. At least we have a few things in common!  
  
To Starlight16: Okay, you've got to start controlling that Jet. NOBODY makes my Henry cry, especially by chasing after him with a baseball bat!!! (Okay, he's not really MY Henry. Like I said before, I don't own him. He reminded me of that in chapter six.) Anyways, I'm glad you finally started reading!! Thanks for the comment!!  
  
To Silent Bob 546: No, I won't kill Jekyll. I promise. But DORIAN might!!! (And as for Jekyll saying 'honey,' Jekyll's in love, you know. Wait until Mina starts calling him 'sweetie.')  
  
Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!  
  
*  
  
Mina awoke late the next morning to find a fresh pot of tea on her bedside table. A note beside it read, "Mina, I know you get stomachaches when your nerves act up. This peppermint tea should help. Love, your Henry."  
  
Mina smiled and poured herself a cup. Henry was so thoughtful!  
  
Mina's nerves were a little out of control, but the tea helped, and so did dwelling on the activities of last night.  
  
McCane had promised he would get in touch with Simon Linoge, as much as it pained him to (McCane and Linoge didn't really get along.) Linoge was bound to have some kind of plan. Plus, with his wings, he could fly to the Nautilus from wherever he was as fast as lightning.  
  
Mina wondered if Hyde was still standing outside her door. She was about to get up and see when Captain Nemo burst into her room.  
  
"Mina!" he cried. "You're wanted in the conference room immediately."  
  
Mina raised an eyebrow. She got up, put on a large, burgundy bathrobe she found lying on a chair, and went to go see what the fuss was all about.  
  
* * *  
  
The corridors of the Nautilus were pained with tension and nervousness, but the atmosphere in the conference room was much better. At the head of the table sat Andre McCane. He was watching, with interest, as Skinner took a teacup and filled it with liquid from a flask he kept in his pocket. Mina made up her mind not to have any tea that Skinner offered her.  
  
On McCane's left sat a tall and sinister man wearing a black peacoat and carrying a wolf's head cane. Simon Linoge.  
  
Mina glanced at him and shuddered. She'd been too sick to really examine him at their last meeting. This time, it was much more apparent that this man was not someone to cross. His blue eyes were so piercing that Mina hoped he would never look at her, for fear of those eyes drilling a hole right through her.  
  
Also at the table were Henry, Nemo, and Skinner. Dorian was probably none of Donna's business, and as for Sawyer, Mina guessed that Henry was still confining him to bed with his sore ankle.  
  
"Mina! You're here!" said McCane. "Mina, you've met Simon Linoge, haven't you?"  
  
Mina nodded and gave Linoge a short curtsy.  
  
Linoge looked at her curiously. "Say, isn't that MY robe you're wearing?"  
  
Mina blushed. "Yes. Batsie actually lent it to me the last time she was on here."  
  
Surprisingly, Linoge just laughed. "Yes, that's right! I remember you now, Mina. May I inquire how you are feeling?"  
  
"Much better, thank you," Mina replied kindly. The grip on her nerves loosened. She had been so caught up in his menacing looks that she had forgotten how friendly and considerate he actually was. "But now, I'm starting to feel ill again. Dorian has come back."  
  
"Yes, I've just explained to Simon all about Dorian's past with the League," Nemo said. McCane motioned for Mina to sit down.  
  
"And nothing surprises me a bit," Linoge said, frowning.  
  
"Excuse me, but Mr. Linoge, didn't you tell us upon our last meeting that you indeed knew Dorian Gray?" asked Jekyll.  
  
"Yes, I did," Linoge remembered. "I did meet Dorian once, and I did indeed tell you that I met him."  
  
"May I ask where you knew him from? I seemed to have forgotten," said Nemo.  
  
"Oh, it was many years ago," Linoge said. "I was still working at my old career. I was the head of the Order of Beelzebub, and Dorian came to us asking if he could join us."  
  
"Wasn't Beelzebub Satan's second-in-command when he was cast out of Heaven?" asked Skinner. "I do read poetry, you know. John Milton's 'Paradise Lost.' It's a classic."  
  
Linoge smiled and nodded. "Yes, that's right. And now the Order of Beelzebub is now one of the most prestigious orders of angels in all of Hell."  
  
"Well, was he let in?" asked Mina, who was on the edge of her chair.  
  
"No, I'm afraid not. His heart was too pure," Linoge told her.  
  
Mina shuddered. If Dorian was considered too pure of heart to become an angel of Satan, she didn't even want to imagine what Simon Linoge had been like back then.  
  
"But I'll tell you something," Linoge continued. "I very strongly disliked Dorian Gray right from the start, and not just because he wasn't good enough to become one of us. Something about him just wasn't right in my eyes. It's almost like he wasn't human."  
  
"He isn't," Mina agreed. "He's a monster!"  
  
"So, you'll do it for us? You'll get rid of him?" Skinner asked anxiously.  
  
Linoge shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Mr. Skinner."  
  
"Why not?" asked Skinner, upset. "You want to! You KNOW you want to! Why can't you?"  
  
"Because of my limited powers as a new angel of Heaven," Linoge answered. "You see, I just joined Batsie's league a few years ago, and my powers are not developed enough yet. I don't have enough power to kill an immortal being. I used to, but not anymore."  
  
"So, all the powers you had as an angel of Satan disappeared when you joined the good side?" Mina asked. Linoge nodded.  
  
"But Batsie has enough power to kill an immortal, doesn't she?" McCane asked.  
  
"Of course Batsie does. She's been working for our Lord for over 600 Earth years."  
  
"AGGHHHHH!! Why does everything have to be so COMPLICATED!!!!" Skinner screeched. "And how did Dorian come back to life, anyway? Mina, didn't showing him his picture kill him off?"  
  
"I thought it did!" said Mina. "We'll have to ask him how he was able to come back to life."  
  
"Later," said Jekyll. "It's not important. The important thing is destroying him for good. And for that, we need the power of a supernatural being."  
  
"I'll go get Batsie for you," Simon Linoge offered. "She could certainly help you out."  
  
"Oh, would you? Could you?" asked Mina. "That'd be great!"  
  
"Certainly. Just give me an hour or so, and I'll be back with her."  
  
* * *  
  
So Simon Linoge had gone to get his wife. For lack of anything else to do at the moment, Jekyll had gone back to his laboratory to experiment. McCane had gone to see where Donna was, and Nemo was checking up on the work of his crew members.  
  
Mina was tempted to go and bake cookies. She didn't know what was coming over her all of a sudden; she hadn't baked anything since she was married to Jonathan. But she felt very tempted to bake cookies.  
  
As for the invisible man, he had ventured down to the dungeons to see how ol' Dorian was holding up.  
  
*  
  
I hope to have the next chapter up before long. I have a lot of homework around this time because spring break is coming up.  
  
Remember to review!  
  
~ Alisonia 


	9. Attempt 2: Batsie Linoge

I'm so sorry it's been a while...between homework, recurring headaches, and moving to a new address, it's kind of hard to focus on the League when I have so much else on my mind. But now I'm back with the next chapter.  
  
To the Sardonic One: First of all, no, Mina and Jekyll have not done the Bad Thing. Back in 1899, it was still illegal in many societies to do "it" before marriage (but tell that to Skinner!) Second of all, Skinner reading poetry isn't very OOC. He's read Mina's poetry, hasn't he? (see 'Happy New Year!') And last of all, I'll keep your Dorian/Donna idea in mind, but I don't think Dorian would want to hook up so quickly with a woman who has just insulted his appearance!  
  
To Silent Bob 546: Good luck with that. I don't sleep that often; too much on my mind. (And for my comment on Skinner reading poetry, see what I wrote to the Sardonic One.)  
  
To Graymoon74 (for chapter seven): Yes, I am a major Jekyll fan! Aside from being my favorite LXG character, he's one of my favorite literary figures, period!  
  
To galebalesh: You thought the last chapter was funny? Wait and see what happens when Mina brings Jekyll some of her cookies!  
  
To Graymoon74 (for chapter eight): I'm thinking a writing a fanfic focusing on the past of Simon Linoge, just to show you how horrible he really was. Have you ever heard of the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island, Virginia? Yep, that was him! (Just kidding. I have no idea who it was, but I'm going to assume it was him.)  
  
Enjoy this next chapter!  
  
*  
  
Mina smiled to herself as she took another batch of sugar cookies (chocolate chip weren't invented until 1933) out of the oven. She sniffed the warm aroma of her own cooking, and sighed happily. She was still very worried about Henry locking himself in his laboratory, so she planned to bring him some cookies as a snack.  
  
As she placed some of the cookies on a plate, she continued to dream of her Henry. Mina enjoyed baking for him, and she wished that someday, she and Henry would live together in London, and she would cook for him always.  
  
That was, of course, if they ever got rid of Dorian. Fear started to accumulate in the pit of her stomach at the very thought of Dorian. Her breathing beginning to accelerate, Mina quickly put some cookies together on a plate for Henry and started off toward the laboratory.  
  
* * *  
  
Dr. Henry Jekyll heard a quiet knock on the door, and knew at once that it was Mina.  
  
"Mina?" he asked, just to be sure.  
  
"It's me, Henry," came Mina's voice affirmatively. "I brought you some cookies, fresh out of the oven."  
  
"Oh, Mina!" Henry exclaimed, crossing to the door and opening it for her. "That's awfully sweet of you, honey! You shouldn't have!" He gently kissed her and took a cookie off the plate.  
  
Mina smiled at him, gave him a peck on the cheek, and took another cookie off the plate for herself. As she and Henry were nibbling their cookies, they saw another cookie get up and leave the plate completely on its own.  
  
"SKINNER!!" they both yelled simultaneously.  
  
"Heh, heh," said Skinner, smiling sheepishly even though they couldn't see it. "What, can't I have a cookie, too?"  
  
"These are my special cookies," Mina scolded him. "I baked them just for Henry. He's been working hard, and he needs a break. What have you done today?"  
  
"I work hard, Mina," said Skinner, sounding somewhat hurt. "Don't you think that keeping the American lad entertained while he's laid up in bed is hard work?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess that's true, Mina," Henry Jekyll mumbled. "Skinner, have a cookie."  
  
"YAY!!"  
  
"Ahem."  
  
The three of them turned around. Captain Nemo was standing in the doorway.  
  
"I hate to break up this nice conversation, but I must inform you all that Batsie Linoge has arrived, and is waiting for you all in the conference room," he told them.  
  
Jekyll turned to Mina. "Do you think she'll want a cookie?"  
  
"We could ask her," Mina shrugged. She picked up the plate of cookies, and the four of them proceeded out of Henry's room to the conference room of the Nautilus.  
  
* * *  
  
At the sight of seeing Mina Harker and Henry Jekyll holding hands as they entered the conference room, Batsie Linoge let out a breath of happiness. She was the one who had actually set these two up; Mina had told Henry that she loved him, and Batsie had told Henry that if he loved Mina back, he should tell her so. Which he had done.  
  
Sitting beside the supernaturally-beautiful, white-clothed Batsie was McCane. The two were actually ex-lovers; they had been married for thirteen years. McCane saw the plate of cookies Mina was carrying in her other hand and raised an eyebrow. "Mina, you're baking for him now?"  
  
"Yes, she's baking, and no, there is nothing wrong with her. I checked her temperature, and it's perfectly normal," Jekyll joked. Batsie, McCane, Skinner, and Nemo all laughed. Jekyll slipped a free arm around Mina.  
  
"Seriously, Batsie, would you like one? They're delicious," Mina said, offering the plate to her.  
  
"I'm sorry, Mina, but I'm going to have to turn you down. Too much sugar makes my powers go berserk for some reason. But I know for a fact that they're delicious, without even tasting them," Batsie offered for support.  
  
"Good! All the more for me!" Skinner exclaimed, reaching for another one. However, Mina yanked the plate away from him, gave it to Henry, and smiled. If she could have seen the expression on Skinner's face, she would have seen him gritting his teeth.  
  
"Now, I know what this is about," Batsie told them, sitting at the head of the table and facing them all. In addition to her numerous healing powers, she could also read minds. "You want me to get rid of Dorian Gray for you."  
  
"Could you? Please? Pretty-pretty-pretty please with a cherry on top and ice cream in the middle?" Skinner begged her. "I was just down to see him, and he doesn't look very happy. He isn't a very happy chap at all."  
  
"I think we're all aware of that, Skinner," said McCane, rolling his eyes.  
  
"Yes, I think we ARE all aware of that. And I would very much like to get rid of him, both to help out the League and our lovers here," she said, smiling toward Henry and Mina, who both blushed. "But unfortunately, I cannot do it."  
  
There was a flat silence in the room. Skinner tried begging again. "Come on, you KNOW you WANT to!!" he encouraged her. "You HAVE to!!! If you don't, Jekyll's probably going to be killed!!" Jekyll turned pale; not because he was surprised at this, but because he knew Skinner was probably right.  
  
Batsie shrugged sadly. "Rodney, it's not a question as to whether I can physically do it. I can definitely kill an immortal with my powers. But the thing is, I haven't been ordered to. So I can't."  
  
"So, let me get this straight," said McCane, facing his ex-wife. "The Lord hasn't ordered you to kill Dorian Gray. So you can't."  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"Can you ask him for permission?" asked Nemo in desperation.  
  
"No, I can't. I can't ask him for anything. I'm a servant of the Lord. I can only do what he tells me; nothing else."  
  
There was another silence. "Well, say you did," said Jekyll. "Say you killed Dorian anyway, without an order. What would happen to you?"  
  
"If I killed Dorian anyway, I would have disobeyed the Lord. I would be kicked out of my regimen and made a human," she said sadly. Batsie Linoge started to weep. "And that cannot happen," she cried. "I have so many lives to save yet!"  
  
McCane, always the gentleman, took a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to his ex-wife. Batsie took it from him, thanked him, and dried her tears.  
  
"Is there any hope for us?" paled Nemo. "Any hope at all?"  
  
"There can be," Batsie said, drying her tears. "There are always ways around the rule. If you give me an evening to think it over, I can maybe come up with something you can do all by yourselves, without my help."  
  
Mina was so excited she practically fell out of her chair. "Really?"  
  
"Really," Batsie smiled at her.  
  
"Well, make yourself at home!!" exclaimed Nemo, "Welcome back to the Nautilus, Batsie Linoge!!"  
  
*  
  
I don't know when I'll have the next chapter up, but hopefully it'll be soon (I'm going to be heading home for a few weeks, and I don't know when I'll get to it.) But, nevertheless, this story will continue, so don't anybody worry.  
  
Remember to REVIEW!!  
  
~ Alisonia 


	10. When An Angel Meets A Former Devil

I'm so sorry for the long delay! As I explained before, I didn't know when I would be able to put this up. But thankfully, I'm in the mood to write again, I feel a lot better (my headaches are gone,) and I'll be able to concentrate more on this now.  
  
Just a few shout-outs before we begin:  
  
To SilentBob546: Yeah, the cookies were cute, weren't they? (By the way, I'm only in class about three hours a day!! Hah!!)  
  
To galabalesh (for the first review): Yeah, Mina's okay. She's just in love, that's all.  
  
To Suzuka Blade: 'Fang'-tastic? LOL!!! That was funny. Thanks for the temporary antidote, but in chapter eleven, Jekyll will finally solve his problem with the potion, so he won't need to use it. By the way, I'll keep the phone number on hand... Hyde might want to use it...  
  
To Graymoon74: Actually, I think Dorian acting good is even scarier than Dorian being turned down as an angel of Hell!!!! Thanks for the idea, though!!  
  
To galabalesh (for the second review): Irrelevant angst and stupid hilarity. Hmm. I think today's horror genre speaks for itself. I watched 1931's 'Dracula' and 1992's 'Dracula,' and I'm sorry, but Helen Chandler is much more relevant as Mina than Winona Ryder. I'm sorry, but Ms. Ryder just doesn't cut it. So hit me with your proposition. I may enjoy it.  
  
And here we go with the story!  
  
*  
  
Facing her mirror at her vanity table, Batsie Linoge picked at her beautifully cut and permed light brown hair, dwelling on the situation at hand. How could the League get rid of an immortal without her help?  
  
But it was hard to concentrate on Dorian Gray when there were so many other things that demanded her attention. The many relationships aboard the Nautilus were just a few of them.  
  
Batsie was happy that Dr. Jekyll and Mina had fallen deeply in love with each other. It was hard to see into the future, but Batsie had no doubt in her mind that they would stay together for a long, long time. And then, there was the relationship that had appeared right under her nose. Andre and Donna. Not that Batsie objected to this, but it was a bit strange, because after they had divorced, Batsie thought that Andre McCane would never get into a serious relationship with anybody again.  
  
Batsie put her hand around a small container of pale powder, with every intention of powdering her cheeks. However, before she did anything, she set it down again. She couldn't think like this.  
  
She needed to get out.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
  
Once again, Edward Hyde stood in front of Mina Harker's door, protecting Mina from anybody's entry into her room.  
  
Earlier, Henry Jekyll had informed his alter-ego that Batsie Linoge was now back on the Nautilus, and if she needed to get into Mina's room, she should not be objected to. Not that Edward's objecting would have any effect anyway. Batsie could simply use her powers to push Edward away from the door and open it herself.  
  
Thinking of Batsie Linoge made Edward Hyde have even more thoughts about what he could do with his own body (if Henry could hurry up and finish the bloody potion.) He could get in touch with Simon about becoming an angel of Satan (if Simon even referred people anymore; probably not, but it was worth a try.) Heck, he could kill Simon and have Batsie all for himself. Yeah. Now, THAT was a plan!  
  
Across the hallway, a door opened, and out stepped a thin woman wearing a beautiful, beaded, light blue sleeveless ensemble that looked more like an evening dress than a nightgown. It was Batsie Linoge herself.  
  
"Why, hello, Edward," she said politely upon noticing him. Even to Hyde, her soft voice floated like music in air. "Beautiful evening, is it not?"  
  
Hyde just grunted in reply. Maybe marrying Batsie wasn't such a good idea after all; he would have to live with years and years of this continual, nonstop sweetness. He didn't know how Simon could stand it.  
  
"May I ask what you are doing in front of Mina's door?"  
  
"Answer her, Edward," Hyde heard Jekyll whisper in a dangerous tone inside of his head. "A lady just asked you a question." But inside, Jekyll was curious. Why had she asked him that? She knew very well what he was doing there; Batsie Linoge could read minds. Everybody aboard the Nautilus knew that.  
  
"Protecting Mina from anyone who might want to do her harm," Hyde growled in a response to her, flexing his arm muscles menacingly.  
  
"Henry's idea?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Well, I'm sorry for being so curious," Batsie apologized. "I was just on my way to the kitchen for a cup of tea."  
  
Hyde just nodded in reply, baring his teeth in a forced smile.  
  
Batsie continued on down the hall toward the kitchen, her back now towards him. "But if you have other things to do tonight," she carried on in a louder voice, "you can feel free to pursue them with the most satisfied of hearts. No harm will come to Mina tonight."  
  
Hyde opened his mouth and was about to ask her how in the bloody world she knew that, but then promptly shut it. It was a stupid question. You didn't ask an angel how or why they knew things; they just KNEW.  
  
Instead, Hyde raised his eyebrows casually. "Oh?" he asked, pretending to be surprised and pleased.  
  
"Yes," she said, and then turned around to face him, a mysterious smile on her face. "And by the way, Edward, as an angel of Heaven, my husband is invincible as well as immortal. No physical harm will ever come to him. You can forget about attempting to kill him."  
  
For the first time in his existence, Edward Hyde blushed. And for the first time in his existence, he also apologized. "I'm sorry for thinking such thoughts."  
  
"Forgiven," said Batsie simply. She turned around and continued on her way to the kitchen.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
  
Batsie was almost on her way to the kitchen when she came to Tom Sawyer's room. The young American was asleep (just as he should be; it was midnight,) but she could still read his mind. And she sensed pain.  
  
Batsie carefully opened Sawyer's bedroom door and went over to his bedside. She could easily see the problem: his right ankle was all bandaged up and propped up on a bunch of pillows. He had either sprained it or broken it.  
  
Stretching out her pale arm, Batsie wrapped her hand around the injured ankle and squeezed her eyes tight.  
  
"You're too late," said a low voice behind her.  
  
Batsie turned around. Standing there was her husband, smiling broadly.  
  
"I already fixed it," said Simon Linoge, smiling wider.  
  
Batsie laughed quietly and removed her hand from Tom's ankle. "What are you doing here?" she asked him curiously, hurrying over to him. "I thought you said you were going back home."  
  
"What, you think there's more than an annoying immortal to fix around here?"  
  
"He may be annoying to you, dear, but to these people, he's life- threatening." She took his arm in her own and they left Tom's room together, heading towards the kitchen. "So, enlighten me. What else is there to fix around here besides Mr. Dorian Gray?"  
  
"Basically, after a through search of the minds of the people on the ship, I've come to the conclusion that Henry Jekyll and Mina Harker need help. Badly," said Simon as he pushed open the kitchen door. "This is all your fault, Batsie. You set them up."  
  
"Now, now, Simon, blame in a sin in the eyes of the Lord. And I had to set them up. It saved Henry Jekyll's soul, didn't it? The man was about to commit suicide."  
  
"True," said Simon dryly. He thought. "A relationship like theirs would be a cinch to destroy. But how to save it? If those two are going to make it together, they need to overcome not only Dorian Gray, but also Edward Hyde. And how to get rid of him...that's the problem!"  
  
Batsie laughed. "That's why the good side is always the better side, dear. Our work is much harder." She poured herself a cup of tea. "Tell you what. Leave Dorian to me. They trusted me to him anyway. You take care of Henry and Mina. Deal?"  
  
"Deal," said Simon. The husband and wife shook hands.  
  
*  
  
The last scene was a very interesting one for me to write. I've never written a scene where Batsie and Simon have a conversation alone together before. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I.  
  
The next chapter will be up hopefully very soon. I'll try to get it up as soon as I can, I promise. In the meantime, remember to REVIEW!!!  
  
~ Alisonia 


	11. The Genius

I'm so sorry! I had this chapter written days ago, but I never getting around to putting it up! Maybe it's because I'm not in school, so I'm lazier than usual! *Hit myself in the head with a pillow repeatedly, cursing myself for being so lazy*  
  
To galagalesh: You know, that actually sounds like a good idea! The bad part is, I'm still kind of confused. So, if you really are serious about this, get back to me with a plot for the story or something. I'll be glad to help out.  
  
To Silent Bob 546: You know, I wasn't even thinking of "Holes" when I wrote that! Good work pointing in out! Oh, and yes, I agree completely. They WERE meant for each other!  
  
To Graymoon74: Bad Hyde, very bad Hyde! *Hit Hyde in the head with a pillow repeatedly, cursing at him for being so evil* By the way, I'm glad that you agree that Batsie gives the story a sweet edge. She and Simon can take care of anything!  
  
To Starlight16: Hey, don't glomp Jekyll too much! Save some of him for me, so I can have fun too! Poor Jet. Nobody loves him! *sniffle*  
  
Anyway, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!  
  
*  
  
Jekyll trusted Batsie's judgment. He knew that if she told him that Mina would be safe for the evening, Mina would definitely be safe.  
  
Jekyll hadn't gotten any sleep last night (when Hyde didn't sleep, Jekyll didn't sleep, either,) but was he going to go to bed? No way! His experiments were much more important than sleep. So, he retreated to his laboratory for yet another all-nighter.  
  
He had worked in his laboratory this afternoon while waiting for Batsie to arrive, but he had just been cleaning up the place after Dorian's attack (Donna had promised she would, but she seemed to have forgotten.) And now, the place was clean. Henry got down to work.  
  
He put the mirror back in place, so Hyde could talk to him, and finally found the notebook where he had written down the formula for the bombed separation potion. He wanted to examine the ingredients and find out a way to get rid of the water/potassium combo, but still make the potion have the same effect. The effect of separating Hyde's body from his own.  
  
However, due to the acid spill last night, there was no more written formula. The acid had eaten through most of the pages of the journal.  
  
"NO!!!" Jekyll shrieked, grabbing his reddish-brown hair in his hands. "This can't be happening to me, Edward!!!!!"  
  
"DAMN DORIAN!!!"  
  
"Oh, what has Dorian got to do with anything?!?" Jekyll asked his alter ego. "You should be angry because your chances of being separated from me are now slim to none!!"  
  
"Well, Dorian attacked this ship. Assuming he attacked the normal way by launching a torpedo, the explosion of the torpedo caused the ship to rock, which caused the acid to spill onto the notebook," Edward Hyde explained impatiently.  
  
Jekyll was amazed at him. Hyde was never good at thinking out procedures.  
  
"Now, now, gentlemen. Blame is a sin in the eyes of the Lord."  
  
Jekyll whipped around. Simon Linoge was standing no more than two feet from him.  
  
"AAAGHHHHHHH!!" Jekyll screamed. "My God, don't you knock?"  
  
Simon looked overwhelmed. "Please, Doctor! Don't call me God. I'm not that great. 'Simon' will do." Hyde chuckled at the joke, but Jekyll still looked angry and flustered.  
  
"Seriously, Jekyll. I'm sorry I floated in without knocking. But I couldn't help overhearing that you were in some kind of distress," Linoge continued.  
  
Jekyll held out his notebook to Linoge, too angry and upset to say anything.  
  
Linoge took one look at it and nodded. "Ah." He held up his great wolf's head cane. "Well, may I?"  
  
Jekyll nodded, but he had no idea what Linoge wanted to do. Linoge, on the other hand, took the notebook from Jekyll and shut it. He touched the cover with the tip of his wolf's head cane, closed his eyes, and mumbled a few things in Latin. Then he opened his eyes again, and held out the notebook to Jekyll.  
  
Jekyll took it from him, but didn't open it. He was staring, transfixed, at Linoge's cane. Had this been the same weapon that had been used by Simon Linoge to torture and murder millions of people while Satan had employed him?  
  
"Well, open it," said Linoge dryly.  
  
Jekyll opened his notebook. The pages were no longer eaten through! The book was now readable again!  
  
Jekyll flipped through it in a stunned silence. "Wow!! Thank you so much, Simon!! How can I ever repay you?"  
  
"Get to work on that potion before Mina goes insane waiting for you make crazy, violent love to her," Linoge replied in a dry tone.  
  
Jekyll looked at him, in shock.  
  
Linoge laughed. "It was a joke!!"  
  
Hyde laughed, but Jekyll just smirked. "Thanks again, Simon," Jekyll replied.  
  
"Anytime, Jekyll," Simon Linoge replied. He slipped mysteriously out of the laboratory. Jekyll started to flip through the notebook again, trying to find the page where he had written down the formula.  
  
"I like him," Hyde grinned. "He makes great jokes. I'm very sorry I ever thought about getting rid of him. You know, Jekyll, when I get out of you, I'm going to spend a lot of time hanging around Linoge."  
  
"That's nice, Edward," Henry mumbled. Then he located the page. "Ah, found it!"  
  
* * *  
  
A few hours later, Henry Jekyll had finally made a breakthrough.  
  
"I HAVE IT!!" he exclaimed. "Oh, this is absolutely IT!!! The potion's fine, it doesn't need to be changed at all! My mistake was that I swallowed it!! I shouldn't have swallowed it, Edward!! I should have injected it!!"  
  
"What difference would that make?" asked Hyde, confused.  
  
"You see, the human stomach contains very powerful gastric acid," Jekyll explained to his alter ego. "The acid invoked the water and potassium reaction! But if I inject it into my bloodstream, the water and potassium won't react. Blood is a BASE, not an acid. So, instead of invoking the reaction, it will calm any possible reaction!"  
  
"So, I'll be separated from you, and you'll be perfectly safe from any side effects?"  
  
"Precisely, Edward!"  
  
"Henry, you're a GENIUS!!" Hyde exclaimed to his alter ego. Jekyll would have basked in the glory, but he wasn't really listening. He was already mixing the ingredients together that he needed for the potion.  
  
After mixing up a whole new batch of the potion, he got a fresh syringe from a drawer and filled it with the concoction. "Now, if this doesn't work, there's definitely something wrong with the potion, and I'm going to have to make a whole new one," he remarked to Hyde.  
  
"I'll cross my fingers," Hyde said.  
  
Jekyll finished filling his syringe, left the lab, and went into his bedroom. "This time, I'm going to be lying in bed," he said aloud to Hyde. "So, if anything does happen, my body will at least be somewhat relaxed."  
  
"Good idea, Jekyll."  
  
The doctor lay himself down in bed. "Remember to cross those fingers of yours, Edward."  
  
"Gotcha."  
  
Jekyll injected himself with the potion and dropped the syringe onto the floor. For a few seconds, just like before, nothing happened.  
  
"Come on," Jekyll thought silently. "This just HAS to work! Come on!"  
  
Suddenly, overwhelming pain gripped Henry Jekyll's head, lungs, chest, and shoulders. Everything hurt, and Jekyll moaned loudly and curled up into a little ball on his bed in an attempt to stop the pain. His stomach, his back, his throat...everything ached, and Jekyll was forced to do nothing but groan from the pain.  
  
"Henry?" Edward Hyde asked carefully. "Are you okay? Henry?"  
  
All of a sudden, Hyde yelped. He felt as if he was being sucked away. He could feel himself being sucked out of Henry Jekyll's body and into the physical world. First his legs, than his torso, his arms, and finally, his head. They were all being thrust out of Jekyll. The body of Edward Hyde was separating from Henry Jekyll.  
  
On the bed, Henry kept on moaning louder and louder. He felt as if something inside of him was disappearing...as if a weight held inside of him for so long was finally being lifted up, and he was now free. Free from his alter ego.  
  
In a few quick minutes, everything was finally over. Jekyll lay on his bed, panting, but in no more pain. Sweat continued to gush out of him. Standing over him was Edward Hyde, sweat gushing out of him as well.  
  
"Henry," said Hyde softly. "Henry, you've done it!!! YOU'VE DONE IT!!!"  
  
"I have?" asked Jekyll weakly. He sat up in bed and looked down at himself, than looked at his alter ego standing in front of him. "Oh, my gosh, I have!!! I've done it!!! My experiments are finally complete!!!!! I'M A GENIUS!!!"  
  
"YOU'RE A GENIUS!!!"  
  
"I'M A GENIUS!!!"  
  
In all of his excitement, Hyde thrust Jekyll out of bed and began dancing with him. Jekyll would have objected to this, but he was in way too much joy.  
  
Down the hall, Simon Linoge heard their happy screams. He turned toward Dr. Jekyll's room with a dark smile.  
  
"I've done it," he whispered to himself. "I've helped Henry fix his relationship with Mina. I'm a genius."  
  
*  
  
There, that's done and over with! Jekyll and Hyde are finally separated! What will they do next?  
  
Tune in to the next chapter to find out! And remember to REVIEW!  
  
~ Alisonia 


	12. Batsie Gets An Idea

Good morning (or 'good afternoon,' or 'good evening,') readers!! Spring break is over, and spring as I know it is over as well. We have three inches of snow outside. In the middle of March. Boo.  
  
Anyway, for those of you who wrote reviews for the last chapter, here are my replies:  
  
To Graymoon74: I know, I wish I had someone magical in my life, too. But I don't, and that's why I created Simon and Batsie. By the way, I'm kind of worried about this separation, too. (And I'll give you more Dorian later, I promise!)  
  
To galabalesh: Actually, I have a better idea. I'm going to write an LXG fan fiction story about everything I find ridiculous in LXG fan fiction stories. For starters, Hyde and Mina will be a couple. And there's going to be a new passenger on the Nautilus. Her name will be Mary Sue...  
  
To Starlight16: Oh, I think others have thought of the Jekyll/Hyde separation idea; they're just too nervous to write about it, because everyone knows that Hyde's a monster!!  
  
To Silent Bob 546: The other characters in this story are sharing your feelings of congratulation for Jekyll. You'll see what I mean in this chapter. "I can fix that!"  
  
To AnonymousLove: Stop smacking yourself with a watermelon! (But if you have to hit yourself, use apples; they're easier to toss!)  
  
To the Sardonic One: Father Hyde? LOL!!! That's a sheer possibility; I will DEFINITELY keep that in mind!! By the way: Dorian's coming back soon, Leaguers II is great, and yes, there will be a fifth fic in this series.  
  
Enjoy Chapter 12!  
  
*  
  
"Who's the genius?"  
  
Hyde and Jekyll quit dancing with each other and both swung around. Standing in the doorway to Jekyll's bedroom was an irritable looking Batsie Linoge. Still half-asleep, she didn't even notice that Jekyll and Hyde were now two different people.  
  
"Doesn't the time 'two o' clock in the morning' mean ANYTHING to you two?" she demanded.  
  
"Nope," they both replied together, grinning.  
  
"Well, how do you expect me to solve the Dorian problem if I don't have a chance to sleep on it?" she snapped.  
  
Batsie would have kept scolding them if it hadn't been for Donna. Coming from behind Batsie, she pushed her lover's ex-wife aside and turned to face Jekyll angrily.  
  
"HENRY JEKYLL!!" she screeched. "Doesn't the time 'two o' clock in the morning' mean ANYTHING to you?!?!? What in Heaven's NAME is going on here!?!? And you had better explain before I telekinetically levitate your desk right over your head and DROP IT!!!"  
  
"I bet I can beat you to it," Batsie snapped. Raising a finger, she magically lifted Jekyll's desk off the ground.  
  
"Please don't do that, Batsie!" Jekyll begged her. "Edward and I were just celebrating my latest triumph! We'll go to bed soon!"  
  
"Like HELL we will!" Edward roared. "I could party all night!!"  
  
"Hold on a second," Donna cut in. "You said that Edward and YOU were celebrating..." Donna's pink albino eyes shifted from Henry Jekyll over to Edward Hyde, and then back to Henry Jekyll. "Oh, gosh," she gasped. "You've done it, haven't you? You've fixed the potion, haven't you?"  
  
"What potion?" asked Batsie, narrowing her eyes and gently setting Jekyll's desk back in its proper place.  
  
"Oh, Batsie, this is great!! Henry here's a genius!!" Donna exclaimed, fully awake now. She ran over to Jekyll, grabbed him by the arms, and started dancing with him.  
  
"I'm AWARE of that!" Batsie exclaimed. "But tell me, what potion!"  
  
Donna dropped Jekyll and faced Batsie again. "A few days ago, Henry made this potion to separate himself from Edward, but it didn't work very well. And now, he must have fixed it!"  
  
"I did fix it," said Henry Jekyll triumphantly. "And now, Edward and I will be in separate bodies forever!"  
  
"Well, why didn't you say so in the first place?!?" Batsie practically exploded. "You were right to celebrate at two in the morning!! Would you like me to go and wake Mina?"  
  
Henry stopped. "No," he said finally. "We'll just announce it to her in the morning. Mina needs her sleep."  
  
"But we don't," said Edward Hyde, grinning evilly. He turned to Batsie. "Miss, may I have a bottle of whiskey?"  
  
"Sorry," said Batsie. "I can't conjure alcohol, except wine for medicinal purposes."  
  
"Let's raid the kitchen for some whiskey, then," suggested Donna. "Come on, Henry."  
  
"Okay," Henry Jekyll agreed. Drinking was one of his guilty pleasures. In fact, even before he drank the Hyde potion for the first time, Jekyll spent a lot of time in pubs.  
  
"Go get Skinner and McCane, Edward," Jekyll called to his alter ego as he and Donna left for the kitchen.  
  
"Gotcha," said Edward. He hurried after them, leaving Batsie alone in Henry's room.  
  
* * *  
  
Tom Sawyer awoke in his bed.  
  
"Gosh, I'm thirsty," he thought to himself. "I should get up and get some water." So he swung his legs over the side of his bed and stood up.  
  
"Hold on!" he said aloud. Didn't he have a sprained ankle when he fell asleep a few hours ago?  
  
The bandages were still on his leg, but his ankle didn't hurt at all. Anxiously, Sawyer reached down and removed the bandages completely. His ankle was no longer swelled up; it looked and felt perfectly normal.  
  
Half confused and half scared, Sawyer jumped on, ran on, and danced on his right leg. It didn't hurt at all.  
  
"What the--" he asked aloud, confused. "Who—what—how did I get like this?"  
  
At that moment, Sawyer noticed something in the corner of his bedroom. It was a black cane, with a silver wolf's head on top of it. And the wolf's head was ALIVE! It was GROWLING at him!!!  
  
Tom felt like running back to bed and pulling the covers over his head. Whoever heard of a growling cane? That cane was full of dark magic!  
  
Still, Tom couldn't shake the suspicion that he had seen that cane before. But he couldn't remember where.  
  
Tom was still standing in the middle of his room and dwelling on this when he heard a soft female voice giggle from down the hall. It sounded as if it was coming from Jekyll's room.  
  
A soft FEMALE voice?  
  
"Batsie Linoge!" Tom exclaimed suddenly. That's where he'd seen the cane before! It belonged to Batsie's husband, Simon Linoge.  
  
"The Linoges are here!" he exclaimed, and ran off toward Jekyll's room to see what was going on.  
  
* * *  
  
"We snagged two bottles," Donna whispered. "One for Edward, one for the rest of us."  
  
"Hey!" Skinner whined. "I wanted my own bottle of whiskey, too!"  
  
"Hey, guys! What's going on?"  
  
Donna, Jekyll, Hyde, Skinner, McCane, and Batsie all looked towards the doorway, where Tom Sawyer was standing in his nightshirt.  
  
"What's going on? Who's she?" Sawyer asked, nodding towards Donna. "Why's Batsie here? Why are you all drinking whiskey instead of sleeping? And why are Jekyll and Hyde in two separate bodies?"  
  
"Whoa, whoa!" Batsie laughed and stopped him. "I only caught your last question, Tom, so I'll answer that one first. Henry and Edward are in two separate bodies because Henry finally made a potion to separate himself from Edward. So we're celebrating. That's why we're not in bed."  
  
"It's his second attempt," McCane added. "His first one didn't quite work."  
  
"If it hadn't been for Mina's quick actions, I would have died from acid poisoning," Jekyll added thankfully. The group sat in silence for a few minutes.  
  
"Hold on a minute," Batsie said slowly. "It gave you acid poisoning? You never told me that, Henry. You just said that the first potion didn't work very well."  
  
"Actually, I said that, not Henry," Donna spoke up, but no one listened to her. They were all looking at Batsie. She had an odd expression on her face. Her eyes were looking up to Heaven in thankfulness, and she was smiling.  
  
"Acid poisoning," she said again, quietly. "I have it! I HAVE IT!! I know how you guys can get rid of Dorian Gray!!!"  
  
*  
  
Hopefully, it won't be long before I have the next chapter up. I'm starting to get back into the story.  
  
Remember to REVIEW!!  
  
~ Alisonia 


	13. Consequences of the Whiskey

I'M SO SORRY it's been so long, but I have NOT been lazy. I've had lots of homework, a small case of writer's block, and a lot of things to deal with back home. But don't worry; I'm back now. Here are your comment replies:  
  
To Silent Bob 546: Yep, Skinner doesn't get his own bottle. Heh. However, that's one of the good things about being invisible...he can steal all of the extra whiskey he wants!  
  
To galabalesh: I'm just kidding. By the way, Bamfwriter has already written a great story about a Mary Sue. The Edward/Mina thing seems tempting, though.  
  
To AnonymousLove: I'm so sorry that you've been impatiently tapping your foot for a good two weeks now, waiting for me to finish this next chapter. Here you go!! (By the way, thanks for the apples!)  
  
To the Sardonic One: Sorry, but Edward won't share his whiskey with anyone. Read this chapter, and you'll see what I mean. (By the way, save 'Bad Angel' for Simon.)  
  
To Graymoon74: *a big, goofy grin on my face* Awww, don't worry!! Jekyll and Hyde being separated won't be as bad as you think it is!!  
  
To Melanie: Okay, I know that I've been neglecting Dorian. But I PROMISE you that I will have lots of Dorian involvement in chapter 14. Hang in there!  
  
So, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!  
  
*  
  
Before anybody could respond to Batsie's outburst, however, Tom Sawyer spoke up. He had suddenly turned dreadfully pale.  
  
"Dorian's back?" he asked shakily. "He'll...if we don't stop him, he'll...he'll probably get rid of Henry and take Mina all for himself!!!!"  
  
"Bingo," said Henry Jekyll in a low voice. Batsie reached out an arm to Tom, helping to steady him.  
  
"Anyway, Batsie, what were you thinking of?" asked McCane.  
  
Batsie opened her mouth and was about to reply, but then she suddenly closed it again. "You know, I thought it was a good idea. But now, I'm not sure if it'll even work or not."  
  
"Whatever the idea is, it never hurts to try," said Skinner.  
  
"I have to ask Mina," Batsie said. "Mina would know if it'll work or not!!"  
  
"Mina would know if WHAT will work?" asked Tom. "What's the big plan?"  
  
"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you until morning," Batsie confessed. "I don't want any of you to go spreading rumors throughout the ship."  
  
"But I won't tell anyone!! I promise!!" promised Skinner.  
  
"You can trust me," added Donna.  
  
"HEY!!! MORE WHISKEY!!!" shouted Hyde suddenly, pounding his already- empty whiskey bottle on the bare floor. Since the bottle was empty, it easily broke, littering the floor of Jekyll's room with broken glass. Everybody winced.  
  
"MORE WHISKEY I SAID!!!" Hyde shouted persistently. His face was already beet-red.  
  
"You see why I can't say anything?" asked Batsie, nudging in Hyde's direction.  
  
"Ahhhh." Everybody else nodded.  
  
* * *  
  
"Mina? May I see you for a minute?" Batsie asked the next morning. She was poking her head out of her bedroom door. Mina had been walking to breakfast when she heard Batsie call her.  
  
"Sure," shrugged Mina. Batsie opened her bedroom door and urged Mina to come in.  
  
Mina, wearing a light nightgown and Simon Linoge's bathrobe (she had grown accustomed to it by now), took a seat in one of the straight-backed wooden chairs near the window. Batsie, who was already dressed (and one of two members of the whiskey party that had woken without a hangover—neither she nor Andre McCane drank much,) took a seat beside her.  
  
"Mina," Batsie said. "I think I've found a way to get rid of Dorian. But you need to tell me if it's going to work."  
  
Mina nodded. This was the moment she had been waiting for all week.  
  
Batsie smiled a twisted smile. "Actually, I can't believe I thought of this. It's something Simon would have thought of. Anyway, before I tell you, here's how it came to me. Last night, Henry woke me up, and I went over to investigate. I saw he and Edward in separate bodies, so we woke up Skinner and Andre, and began to celebrate."  
  
"Why wasn't I woken?" Mina asked, wide-eyed. "Batsie, Henry curing his schizophrenia has always been my dream come true!! And now it's happened, and I wasn't even there to congratulate him!!"  
  
"You needed your sleep, you poor, stressed thing. Anyway, they began to break out the whiskey, and then Henry said..."  
  
* * *  
  
"Uggghhhhhh!!"  
  
For several years now, Edward Hyde had always been the one who had gotten drunk, and Henry Jekyll had been the one who had woken up with the hangover. That had been the convenience of having an alter ego. However, Edward no longer had an alter ego, so...  
  
"Ugggghhhhh!!" he groaned again.  
  
"Edward, be quiet!!" groaned Henry Jekyll, throwing a pillow at Edward Hyde, who had fallen asleep on Henry's bedroom floor the night before after drinking four successive bottles of whiskey. Henry also had a hangover, but he had only drank four glasses of whiskey, as opposed to four bottles.  
  
"Oh, Mina is going to KILL me," Henry moaned, forcing himself out of bed and walking across his floor to look at himself in the mirror. "Maybe if I take a painkiller now, and then get a cold shower, she won't notice at breakfast." He turned to face Edward. "I wish I could say the same for you, Edward."  
  
"Oh, please, Henry!" Edward moaned. "Don't mention breakfast. Just hand me a bottle of painkillers and let me die in peace."  
  
Henry just chuckled in a low voice. "You know, Edward, I don't think I will. You're just going to have the learn the hard way." He picked up his bathrobe, which had been hanging on the back of his desk chair, and headed towards the bathroom. "By the way, if I come back in, and see you sleeping in my bed--"  
  
"Forget it," Edward groaned. "I'm in too much pain to move. My head...my throat...my stomach...everything hurts."  
  
"Finally YOU know how it feels," Henry muttered, slumping off towards the bathroom.  
  
* * *  
  
Mina sat, gaping, at Batsie. She could not believe that dear, sweet Batsie Linoge had just uttered what she had. "Are you sure those two sips of whiskey you had last night didn't permanently damage your brain?"  
  
Batsie laughed. "Forget about my brain for the moment, Mina. I want to know what you think of the plan. First of all, do you think it will work on him?"  
  
"I'm pretty sure," Mina said slowly, thinking. "I know for a fact that Dorian can become ill. As a matter of fact, I remember when he had smallpox. He just can't die from any illnesses."  
  
"He can become ill, but he can't die. That's good. So, do you think he can have acid poisoning, but not die?"  
  
"It's a possibility," Mina nodded. "In fact, it's a sheer possibility."  
  
Batsie smiled. "That's good." She put an arm around Mina. "Mina, I'm sorry, but using Dr. Jekyll's dangerously reactive potion on Dorian has been the only idea I've been able to come up with. And if it doesn't work, I apologize, but you're just going to have to keep him locked up down there forever."  
  
Mina nodded and buried her head in her hands. She hoped that it would never come to that. "Oh, Lord," she moaned. "What have I gotten myself into?"  
  
"Obviously, something good, if Henry was finally able to get his potion to work," Batsie smiled. She reached into her pocket and produced a beautiful diamond rosary, which she handed to Mina. "Pray for it, Mina," she told her. "Just pray for it. God will answer you."  
  
*  
  
Will Edward Hyde ever recover from his hangover? What has Dorian been doing all this time, locked in the dungeons? Will Mina get angry at Henry for having drinking so much?  
  
Find out in the next exciting chapter!! (There WILL be Dorian in it, I promise!!)  
  
~ Alisonia L. Nowicki 


	14. Simon and Dorian

Again, I'm so sorry about the lack of updating, but school has been really brutal. It's a good thing that I'm going to be on break for the next week!! Anyway, here are the review replies:  
  
To Etcetera Kit (for chapter 12): Wow. Your review has got to be the longest one I've ever received. I've read it, analyzed it, and reviewed all of your points. But this is how I think about it...when Mina is in love (in my story anyway,) she kind of gets screwed up in the head. She loses her cool and dreams of baking for Dr. Jekyll. And, I agree! Let's kill that S-O- B!!!!!!  
  
To Etcetera Kit (for chapter 13): Yeah, I agree. When Hyde's drunk, he is a big baby, isn't he?  
  
To Dr. Griffin: You know, if you had given me that idea earlier, I would have used it!! But I already have a plan for where the story is going. Thank you so much for your idea, and I repeat, it's okay that you used my joke.  
  
To galabalesh: Yeah, I kind of did have writer's block for a little while. But I just love writing about Dr. Jekyll; he's my favorite character. Dorian's my least favorite character. I plan to get rid of him.  
  
To Graymoon74: Hyde? Get into trouble? NEVER! (If I were speaking to you, you'd hear the sarcasm in my voice!)  
  
To ares: Wow, I've never been called a genius three times in a row before! Thank you, thank you, thank you!  
  
To MisSEsmADhATTer: I know, I know...I don't drink either. Believe it or not, I'm too young.  
  
Here's Chapter 14! (Again, sorry to keep you all waiting!)  
  
*  
  
With both wrists chained to the wall behind him, Dorian Gray lifted his head from his cell in the Nautilus' dungeon. How could he have been so stupid? He should have worn a disguise or something, so the crewmen and Nemo wouldn't have recognized him. That way, when he had been brought in to face Nemo, he could have just broken free from the crewmen, grabbed Mina, and escaped.  
  
But he was going to get out of here. There was no doubt about that. They couldn't keep him locked down here forever.  
  
Could they?  
  
Dorian growled and vowed to himself that when he got out, the members of the League were going to be sorry they ever tortured Dorian Gray by locking him up in the dungeon. They were all going to pay...every single one of them, even those new people: the man who had stood up for Mina, and the albino woman that had made fun of his hair.  
  
"She was just jealous," Dorian told himself, a smug look on his face as he thought. He twisted his head so he could check his reflection in the shiny metal of the chains that were binding his hands to the wall. His hair was beautiful. Hers was all white and thick and...well, definitely not as pretty as his.  
  
Dorian heard footsteps in the distance and growled again. It was probably one of them, coming downstairs to gawk at him. Once again, one of these days, they were all going to be sorry.  
  
But it wasn't a member of the League. It was a tall man with piercing blue eyes, wearing a black peacoat and carrying a cane topped with a silver wolf's head.  
  
Oh, God.  
  
"Simon Linoge?" croaked Dorian curiously. His voice was weak from having not used it in a while. It was incredibly lonely down here in the dungeons.  
  
"Dorian Gray," said Simon with disdain, shaking his head at him. "My, my. What a bad boy you have been."  
  
Dorian grinned. "Bad enough you join your kind?"  
  
"Actually, I have left my kind," said Simon, with something like pleasure in his voice. "I have given back my phenomenal cosmic powers and left the comforting fires of Hell for a new life."  
  
"Enlighten me," said Dorian, eyeing him with interest.  
  
"Now I enjoy the paradise of Heaven, Dorian. I thought there could be nothing better than the goodness of engulfing my body in a warm fire and the thrill of murder and torture, but yes, there are things much better. Have you met my wife? She's one of the kindest, most generous women you could ever set your eyes on, not to mention very beautiful."  
  
Dorian felt a wave of fury rush over him. "You've become a traitor to your own kind?!?!? What has come OVER you?!?!?"  
  
"Dorian," Simon said simply, "I've now realized that the only definition of a traitor is one who abandons the good side. Like yourself." That said, Simon turned to leave.  
  
Dorian just stared after him, mouth open. "Simon, wait!!" he screamed for him. "Get me out of here!!!"  
  
"I can't do that," Simon called behind him as he left. "That would be sinful of me."  
  
Dorian screamed in emotional agony. Simon Linoge, a man he had always admired as being one of the most evil beings to stalk the Earth, had decided to join the good side and fight against everything he had always held so dear to him.  
  
Well, if Simon wasn't going to help him take care of the League. He was just going to have to take care of them himself.  
  
And boy, were they never going to forget their lesson.  
  
* * *  
  
"Aaaaggghhhhh!!"  
  
Rodney Skinner held his forehead in his hands as he sat down at the table for breakfast. "Shouldn't have had that fifth glass of whiskey last night!!"  
  
"Speak for yourself," Tom Sawyer mumbled under his breath, which still smelled faintly of alcohol.  
  
"I'm dying!!" Skinner moaned.  
  
"Oh, shut up!!" complained Donna. "I've been sitting at this table for ten minutes, and already, you two have complained so much that I feel like getting up and leaving."  
  
"You and me both, dear," McCane added. "Rodney, Tom, don't you two know when enough's enough?"  
  
"Not when whiskey is concerned," Donna said smugly. She, McCane, and Batsie all looked at each other and laughed to themselves.  
  
Surprisingly, Henry Jekyll looked refreshed and happy after his painkiller and cold shower. Or, maybe that was because he was used to enduring monstrous hangovers from Edward Hyde, and the one he had given himself wasn't so bad.  
  
"Boy, somebody's in a good mood this morning," said Skinner jealously.  
  
"Have any of you seen Mina?" Jekyll asked hopefully. He reached behind his back and produced a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers.  
  
Batsie smiled. "She'll be entering this room in five...four...three...two..."  
  
"Good morning," Mina greeted everybody as she entered the dining room.  
  
"Good morning, honey," said Henry quietly, going over to her and giving her the wildflowers. "It's such a beautiful day, I thought I'd give you these."  
  
"Oh, Henry! They're beautiful!" Mina breathed. She inhaled their soft smell happily, but then suddenly stopped and turned to face him. "Wait. Are you trying to get on my good side after you threw a drinking party last night without me?"  
  
"No."  
  
Batsie looked at him, smiled, and shook her head. Fibbing was a sin in the eyes of the Lord.  
  
Jekyll sighed. "Yes. But Batsie and I wanted you to get your rest, Mina. You haven't been sleeping well lately."  
  
"It's okay, I forgive you," Mina smiled, kissing his cheek. "Oh, I just knew you would do it, Henry. You're cured for good! Now we can finally love each other without any fears!"  
  
"Mina, even if you would have been there, luv, you didn't miss a bloody thing," Skinner told her. "Okay, except for Sawyer, Jekyll, and I getting stoned out of our minds, and Hyde becoming so bloody drunk and violent that--"  
  
"Okay, enough," Jekyll quickly silenced him.  
  
"Where is Hyde, anyway?" asked Sawyer. "Not that it matters," he added hastily. "But sometimes I worry when I don't know where he is."  
  
"Vomiting the last I heard," Skinner said. "I mean, after drinking four whole bottles, you think he's going to be okay the next morning?"  
  
"Well, as long as he's out of the way," said Batsie, interrupting his train of thought, "let me tell you about the plan I came up with to take care of Dorian. Of course, you all are going to have to do this. I can't have any part in it whatsoever."  
  
"Of course," nodded Jekyll.  
  
"Okay, what we do is," Batsie told them, "we take some of water, and some of the liquid potassium that Henry put in his potion, and we..."  
  
* * *  
  
Henry Jekyll's hands trembled as he mixed the water and liquid potassium into a beaker. He didn't know why he was doing this. He didn't know how Batsie had managed to talk him into this.  
  
"Gee, that was a pretty stupid thought," he murmured to himself. "Batsie can talk anybody into anything."  
  
And it was nice not to have Hyde picking at him every minute of the day. Henry Jekyll had made some pretty amazing discoveries during his scientific career, but if any of those landed him in the history books, it had to be separating his good self from his evil self.  
  
With shaking hands, Henry put down the beaker and picked up the ordinary cup of tea that sat on the lab table. Using an eyedropper he had dipped into the beaker of water and potassium, he put several drops of the water/potassium mixture into the cup of tea. Dorian would drink it later. Hopefully, it wouldn't taste too weird to him, and he would finish the whole thing.  
  
Henry put the cup of tea back on the silver tray he had used to carry it here, and wondered vaguely where Edward was. Probably still vomiting up the rest of the alcohol inside him. Henry had already told Nemo to prepare Edward his own room on the Nautilus, for two reasons. One, now that he and Edward were in separate bodies, there was no way he was going to share a room with him.  
  
Two, Edward drank practically every night, and therefore, he was probably going to be sick like this every morning. And anybody who spent the whole morning being sick should have a bed of their own to sleep in.  
  
Hands still trembling with nervousness, Henry started to carry the tea tray out of the laboratory. Time for Dorian's breakfast.  
  
*  
  
I don't know when the next update's going to be, but hopefully very soon. Remember to REVIEW!!!  
  
~ Alisonia 


	15. Wierding Stones

I'm so surprised that I got this chapter done so soon. I thought it was going to be another week or so. I'm very tired all of the time, and yet I can't fall asleep at night. I hope I'm not getting sick again.  
  
My humble thanks go out to:  
  
To Dr. Griffin (for chapter 13): Thanks for the advice!!! Hyde is eternally grateful!!  
  
To Ares: Hmmm...a rabid dog on extreme quantities of sugar? Okay, I'm officially scared now!  
  
To Silent Bob 546: You want me to torture Dori? Sure!  
  
To galabalesh: Well, let's just see, shall we?  
  
To Etcetera Kit: Back in my high school chemistry class, we watched a video where some solid potassium was dropped into a bowl of water, and it made a huge explosion. I'm just guessing the reaction is the same with liquid potassium. Get ready for some Dorian action!  
  
To Graymoon74: I have a friend who hates sarcasm, so we all be extra sarcastic to him. It's hilarious. Anyway, yeah, Hyde's going to keep on drinking. Why would he stop just because he has his own body?  
  
To Ares (again): Hyde drunkenness I can definitely give you. Mina drunkenness we're going to have to see about, but it's probably doable.  
  
And now, without further ado, here is chapter 15!  
  
*  
  
With Sawyer, Jekyll, Skinner, Nemo, and Mina watching him, Simon Linoge emptied a small black bag on the dining room table to reveal four white odd-shaped marbles and one black one. Weirding stones.  
  
"It's very simple," he explained to them. "You each draw a stone from the bag. After everybody has drawn, you will reveal your stones. The person that draws the black stone gets to give Dorian his poisoned tea."  
  
"I can't believe we're resorting to this," Tom Sawyer groaned. "Why couldn't one of us just volunteer?"  
  
"Nobody wanted to," Nemo scoffed.  
  
"Is everything in Heaven decided this way?" asked Jekyll, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"No, but most things in Hell are," Simon said, a trace of a smile on his face. "I find weirding stones a very fair way to decide things. I refuse to just pick a number between one and ten."  
  
"I know, picking a number between one and ten is kind of fixed," Batsie agreed. "The winning number always seems to be seven." Picking a number was the preferred way of deciding things in Heaven.  
  
"I can't go through with this," Skinner shook. "If it turns out to be me, that bastard Dorian will murder me the moment he gets free, I know it."  
  
"Back when I worked on the Atlantica, Rodney, we had a saying," Andre McCane cut in. "'You can kill me now, but I will kick your butt continuously in the afterlife.'"  
  
"Amen," grinned Donna.  
  
"Dorian's an immortal. He doesn't have an afterlife," Jekyll muttered, but nobody heard him.  
  
"Hey, just to even things up, how about adding another white stone to the pot, Simon?" asked McCane. "I'll draw too."  
  
"Gladly," Simon smiled. He tapped his palm with his cane, and another white stone appeared. He tossed it into the bag. "Any others before we draw? Donna?"  
  
Donna shook her head in disgust. "That man is revolting. I refuse to face him again."  
  
"One question," Nemo said. "Can you fix this by making a certain person draw the black stone?"  
  
"I can, but I give my word to you as an angel of the Lord that I will not," Simon said.  
  
"And I'll watch him, Captain," Batsie added. Nemo sighed thankfully.  
  
"All right, now," Simon said. "Everybody line up. Let's get this over with."  
  
Holding their breaths, the five members of the League and Andre McCane lined up and prepared to draw stones.  
  
* * *  
  
"OH, GOD!!!!"  
  
Tom Sawyer stared at his open palm in disbelief. He had drawn the black stone.  
  
"Why did you have to mend my leg?" he begged Simon. "Why can't I still be upstairs in bed, still injured, but exempt from participating in this insanity?"  
  
"It may be insanity, but it's our only hope," said Skinner in a cheerful voice. He was very happy that he had drawn a white stone.  
  
"Andre, please!!!" Tom begged McCane. "Could you take the tray in for me?"  
  
Luckily for McCane, Simon answered for him. "No, Tom. You agreed to the terms, I'm sorry."  
  
"You swear you didn't fix this, Simon?"  
  
"I swear I didn't fix it, Tom."  
  
"He didn't fix it, Tom," Batsie added.  
  
Tom just moaned in agony. "What about Hyde? Why couldn't he draw, Jekyll?"  
  
"Dorian doesn't trust Hyde," Mina told him. "He told me so earlier. He wouldn't drink anything Hyde brought to him."  
  
"Well, why can't you just get a crewman to do it, Nemo?"  
  
"They're not involved in this," Nemo said. "We're the ones who want to get rid of him, Sawyer."  
  
"Oh, quit stalling!" cried Donna impatiently. She picked up the breakfast tray from the dining room table and shoved it into Tom's hands. "Just get going!!!"  
  
* * *  
  
Tom Sawyer. Someone Dorian hadn't seen in a while.  
  
"Ah. Good morning, Mr. Sawyer," Dorian said, an evil smile spreading across his face.  
  
"He's chained to the wall, and he still smiles," Tom thought to himself silently, trying not to spill any of the tea on the tray. "Is this stupid idea of Batsie's even going to work?"  
  
"Good morning, Dorian," said Tom sincerely. He was trying to be as natural as he could. "I know an immortal such as yourself does not require eating to obtain energy, but the captain insisted I bring you some breakfast."  
  
"Well, well. How lovely," Dorian sneered.  
  
Reaching into his pocket for the key that Nemo had given him, Tom unlocked the door of Dorian's prison cell...which was okay, because Dorian's arms were still chained to the wall...and slid the tray neatly inside. Then he locked the door with the key, slipped it back into his pocket, and pressed a button on the wall that automatically released Dorian's arm shackles.  
  
"Dorian, do you mind if I ask you a question?"  
  
Dorian looked up at him. "Make it quick, Sawyer."  
  
"How did you survive?"  
  
Dorian laughed. Tom had a feeling that he was not in his right mind. "It's about time one of you asked. In all seriousness, though, it was quite a freak accident. After Mina revealed to me my painting, it was burned in the fire that destroyed the Mongolian fortress. Because the painting was burned, the Dorian inside the painting died."  
  
"And you came back to life." Tom thought, and it suddenly hit him. "So, there's always one Dorian alive at all times. Whether it be in human form, or in the painting. And since the painting is destroyed, you are now immortal without any weaknesses," he added, very disappointed.  
  
"Right you are," Dorian grinned. "Now, may I ask you one?" Tom only nodded.  
  
"Simon Linoge. I've seen him on this ship. How did you happen to meet him?" Dorian asked, picking up the teacup on the breakfast tray.  
  
A harmless question, Tom thought to himself. He might as well answer it. "We met him through his wife. And we met her through a mutual friend of the League's."  
  
"Ah," Dorian said. He took a sip of the tea.  
  
Tom tried not to stare, but he couldn't help it. What was going to happen?  
  
*  
  
Yes, folks, yet another cliffhanger. I'm so sorry, but I just don't feel like writing anymore tonight.  
  
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and I hope Dorian's "reason" was enough to satisfy you all (actually, it was the only thing I could come up with.) I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can. Remember to REVIEW!  
  
~ Alisonia 


	16. Jekyll's Potion and Dorian

The influx of reviews has encouraged me to continue on with this story!! Thanks, guys and girls!!  
  
I've been quite sick since the last chapter was put up (some kind of stomach thing,) but I'm feeling much better now. Let's hope I stay better.  
  
My special thanks go out to:  
  
To Silent Bob 546: I'm so sorry about leaving you off on that last cliffhanger, but I just didn't feel like writing any more. Remember, I felt like complete &#@%*@$!!! when I wrote it. Hopefully, I won't do that again.  
  
To Ares: Great suggestion!!! If you don't mind, I think I'll use it!!  
  
To Graymoon74: Yeah, I was sick. It didn't last long, though, so that was good. Oh, and speaking of "LXG Goes Pink"... when do you plan to update it!??!?!  
  
To Damian: He's immortal, remember? He has to live!!!  
  
To Angelus: Thanks for reviewing!!!! I hope you enjoy the rest of it!!!  
  
To Dr. Griffin: Yes, I'm sure that Simon didn't fix it. Batsie AND I are positive that Simon didn't fix it. And yes, I will spare Dorian's life. I'm not that cruel.  
  
To galabalesh: About the cliffie, see what I wrote to Silent Bob 546. By the way, thanks for recognizing the weirding stones!  
  
I hope that all of you enjoy chapter 16!  
  
*  
  
Dorian Gray gripped his stomach with his hands. "Oh, God," he managed to squeak out. "I'm going to be sick!"  
  
"Dorian, what's wrong?" asked Tom, pretending to be concerned.  
  
"Sawyer!" Dorian shrieked in anger and agony. "What did you....how could you..."  
  
"What is it, Dorian?"  
  
Dorian didn't answer, but instead, vomited all over the floor. Tom had expected this, but seeing Dorian get sick to his stomach made Tom almost feel sorry for the greedy, vain immortal. Tom stretched his arm through the bars of the cell to grip Dorian's hand. It was cold and sweaty.  
  
Dorian threw up again, still gripping his stomach in pain. He was breathing heavily and gasping for air. After vomiting a few more times, during which Tom only stared in horror, Dorian finally fainted, hitting his head on the stone floor of the cell as he fell.  
  
"Oh, God," Tom swallowed. He was sure that when Batsie thought of her plan, she didn't mean for Dorian to crack his head open. It was time to get help from the others.  
  
* * *  
  
Rodney Skinner was engaged in the very girlish action of biting his nails as Batsie Linoge tried to pin up the pale green chiffon evening dress he was modeling.  
  
"Oh, will you quit moving?" Batsie asked him, somewhat annoyed. "Before I prick you in the behind with one of these pins!"  
  
"Sorry, luv, but I can't help thinking about Gray and Sawyer and what's going on downstairs," Skinner shook. Months ago, Skinner had volunteered to model a gown that Batsie was making for her friend's wedding. The dress ended up being so beautiful that Batsie now had a reputation among the angels of Heaven as a seamstress. Since Skinner had gotten a guilty pleasure out of modeling the last dress, he had volunteered to model this one as well.  
  
"Don't worry, if he runs into trouble, we'll know," Batsie said as she put the last pin into place. "Now, take that off. It's time for me to sew it."  
  
"Of course, luv." Skinner disappeared behind the three-way mirror in Batsie's room, and reappeared wearing his usual black coat, with the dress draped over one arm. He handed it off to her.  
  
"Thanks, Rodney. Could you do me a favor by finding my husband and bringing him here? I need to talk to him."  
  
"Why, certainly." Skinner floated out, and Batsie was left alone in her room.  
  
In the hallway, Skinner was starting in the direction of Simon's room when Jekyll came running up to him from the other direction.  
  
"Skinner!!! Sawyer needs our help, now!!"  
  
"I'll get Batsie..."  
  
"She can't help us, remember!!! So just get your invisible self down there, I have to go to my room to get something, this is an emergency!!!"  
  
For the time being, Skinner forgot all about finding Simon and broke into a run towards the dungeons.  
  
* * *  
  
"What happened, Sawyer?" Skinner asked Tom Sawyer as he slid down the ladder to the dungeons where Dorian's cell was.  
  
Tom Sawyer was sitting in front of Dorian's cell, tears streaming down his face. He wasn't upset, but he was traumatized. Skinner noticed that Dorian Gray was still in his cell, but he wasn't moving. He was lying in a crumpled heap on the stone floor in a pool of vomit, white in the face.  
  
"Sawyer!!! Speak to me, my boy!!!" Skinner said, attempting his best Allan Quartermain impersonation.  
  
Sawyer either didn't find it amusing, or he didn't notice. "It was horrible," he said quietly, staring flat out into space. "We were there talking about how I knew Simon, and he took a sip of the tea, and then he get very violently sick. So sick, in fact, that he passed out. He hit his head on the floor, and he might have brain damage or a concussion or something!"  
  
"Don't worry, Jekyll's on his way. I ran into him on my way down here. He said he had to get something in his room, and he'd be right down." Tom just nodded.  
  
"I'm here!" Dr. Henry Jekyll announced, making his way down the ladder. At once, Skinner knew what he had been in a hurry to get in his room...his medical bag.  
  
"Tom, could you open the door?" Jekyll asked Sawyer. "I need to get in there to examine him."  
  
Sawyer dug back into his pocket and pulled out the key to Dorian's cell, which he handed to Skinner, who handed it to Jekyll, who used it to open the cell door.  
  
Jekyll picked up Dorian's cold hand and tried to feel for a pulse. "I'm feeling a pulse!" he announced. "He's still alive!"  
  
Tom breathed what Skinner determined a sigh of relief. Jekyll dug in his medical bag for his stethoscope.  
  
"Henry?" Mina voice came from upstairs. She was climbing down the ladder. "Dorian? Sawyer? Are all of you all right?"  
  
Skinner took it upon to himself to block Mina from this gruesome sight. He stood up and ran over to her. "No, Mina, don't look!" he cried.  
  
But he was too late. Mina climbed down the ladder, looked over to Dorian's cell, and saw him lying motionless in his own vomit with her Henry kneeling over him.  
  
Mina gasped. Her eyes went as wide as headlights. "How...why....why did this happen?!?!" she stammered. "Henry didn't fall unconscious!! Is Dorian going to be okay?!?"  
  
"I think he'll be fine," Jekyll announced from across the room. "My guess as to the fainting would be that I myself have experienced lots of side effects from bad chemicals, so my body is used to it. Dorian probably hasn't. So, the side effects were worse on him than me. We should get him to bed though."  
  
"I move he sleeps in Hyde's room," joked Skinner. "Who's with me on that one?" But all he got was glares.  
  
"Skinner, help me carry him upstairs," Jekyll said to him. "We'll put him in one of the empty guest rooms, and I'll be able to treat him better there."  
  
"Okay," Skinner shrugged. "But I get my own bottle of whatever we're drinking tonight."  
  
Jekyll rolled his eyes. "Deal."  
  
Mina moaned in emotional agony. "Can I drink tonight too, Henry?"  
  
"No, Mina. All the ladies are going to bed tonight. I'll give you a glass of wine, if you like, but nothing else," Jekyll told her. Mina just moaned harder.  
  
"Oh, you'll get over it," Skinner mumbled. He picked up Dorian's head in his arms, and together, he and Jekyll gently carried Dorian's unconscious body upstairs.  
  
*  
  
I know where I'm going on this now, so there are only going to be about one or two more chapters. I know there's a lot more still to be said. What's going to happen to Dorian? To Henry and Mina? To Jekyll and Hyde? But not to worry. I have a simple solution for everything.  
  
Remember to REVIEW!!!  
  
~ Alisonia 


	17. Dorian Wakes Up

Okay, so I couldn't resist. I put a huge twist into the story. Receiving all of your reviews and reading about what you all think will happen in the story made me want to change it up a little bit. So prepare to be shocked!  
  
Shout-outs:  
  
To Silent Bob 546: I can just see it now. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Our first lingerie model, straight from London, is MR. RODNEY SKINNER!!" Hehehe.  
  
To Graymoon74: (1) Well, they weren't trying to kill him, they were just trying to stop him from bugging them by showing him that they're more powerful than he is. (2) Tom thanks you for the cookie. But no chocolate, please. I'm sure you read what happened in ToddFan's "Of Spies and Sugar." (3) That "pile of crap" of yours makes me double over with laughter every time I read it!! I DEMAND AN UPDATE!!!!  
  
To MisSEsmADhATTer: Yeah, I love cliffhangers, all right! Don't worry, I'll make sure none of you fall off. Hehehehe.  
  
To Mrs. Mina Harker: Well, let's just see what's going to happen, shall we? I have a feeling you'll be surprised *winks*  
  
To Ares: Another excellent suggestion that I'll use, if you don't mind!! This chapter of the story is dedicated to you, for providing me with your brilliant ideas.  
  
Here's chapter seventeen, and enjoy!  
  
*  
  
Dorian Gray was still unconscious, lying in a bed in one of the guest rooms. Jekyll had his thermometer out (he had gotten a new one since Mina had been ill with the flu and it had broken,) and was taking Dorian's temperature by slipping it behind his ear. Mina was doubled over in the corner, clutching her stomach.  
  
"Mina, luv? What's wrong?" Skinner asked her, concerned.  
  
Jekyll answered for her. "Oh, Mina's just stressed out. She gets nauseous when her nerves act up."  
  
"What, and you're not letting her drink tonight? Drinking calms MY nerves, Jekyll."  
  
"Skinner, that's not how I deal with my Mina," Jekyll said firmly.  
  
"Fine, Jekyll. Be a party pooper. I'm off to find Hyde."  
  
"Fine," Jekyll said. He took the thermometer from behind Dorian's ear and examined it. "Not that high. Only ninety-nine point seven degrees."  
  
"I say he has a guard by him at all times," Sawyer said, who had been quiet all this time.  
  
"I say you're correct on that one, Sawyer," Jekyll agreed. "I'll stay here for the time being."  
  
"Are you sure that's wise, Jekyll? I mean, if Dorian still wants Mina, he's bound to hurt you when he wakes up."  
  
Jekyll smiled. "Ah, but he doesn't know that Hyde's gone, does he?"  
  
* * *  
  
"Rodney, WHERE IS MY HUSBAND?!?! I thought I told you to find him!!"  
  
"Sorry, Mrs. Linoge, but this is an emergency," Skinner panted. He had completely forgotten about Simon and had set out with every intention of finding Hyde, but then a great idea had come to him. He needed Batsie's help in pulling it off.  
  
"Well, what is it, then?"  
  
"Can you conjure up blood?"  
  
"Only lamb's blood. Why?"  
  
"Well, Jekyll just told me that Mina gets nauseous when her nerves act up, and considering she's so nauseous right now that she's almost on the point of fainting, I thought some blood would make her feel better."  
  
Batsie thought a moment. "You know, that's a great idea." She waved her hand, and a goblet of lamb's blood appeared on her vanity table. She picked it up and handed it to Skinner. "Here. I hope it makes her feel better."  
  
"Thanks, Batsie, luv. Truly a work of the heart, you are," Skinner grinned at her. Considering he had his white face paint on, she could actually see it.  
  
"Don't mention it," Batsie smiled. "Now, are you still going to find Simon for me, or am I going to have to do it myself?"  
  
"Sorry, but maybe some other time. Like I said before, this is an emergency!" Skinner told her.  
  
Batsie just laughed. "Okay, fine. But don't expect me to ever ask a favor from you again, because I know you won't get it done."  
  
* * *  
  
Edward Hyde strolled down the corridors of the Nautilus. His monster hangover had finally worn off, and he was doing what he did best...looking for trouble. Until tonight, that is, when he would probably drink another four bottles of whiskey.  
  
Skinner was walking toward him from the other direction. After Batsie had given the blood to him, Skinner had run down to the kitchen, gotten a bottle a tequila, and mixed a little of it in the lamb's blood. Mina had wanted to drink with them, hadn't she? And if Jekyll wasn't going to let her, Skinner was going to do Mina a favor.  
  
"Ah, Edward!" Skinner exclaimed. "Can you do me a favor and take this to Mina, please? She's probably resting in her room. And please, don't tell her it's from me. She'll never drink it. Tell her that it's from Henry instead."  
  
Edward took the goblet from Skinner's hands and sniffed it. "What is it?"  
  
"Oh, just some blood. With tequila mixed in."  
  
Edward laughed. "Oh, but of course! You can count on me!"  
  
Skinner grinned. "Thanks, Edward. How many bottles would you like to drink tonight?"  
  
Edward scratched his head with his free hand. "Three. Four was a bit too much."  
  
"Done."  
  
* * *  
  
Jekyll was still running tests on the unconscious Dorian when Nemo entered the room. "How's Gray doing?" Nemo asked Jekyll.  
  
Jekyll shook his head. "Not too well. I don't know how bad his head injury was, because I wasn't there to see it, so until he wakes up, I won't be able to know anything."  
  
"Where are Sawyer and Mrs. Harker?"  
  
"Mina was feeling a bit nauseous, so I told her to lie down for a while. I really haven't any idea where Sawyer is. Probably went off to lie down himself. He's been really quiet all afternoon." Jekyll grinned wickedly. "I'll just give him an extra glass of whiskey tonight. That'll perk him right up."  
  
"Jekyll!" Nemo exclaimed, surprised that the usually shy doctor had uttered those words.  
  
Jekyll just grinned again in reply. Even though he and Hyde were now separated, Jekyll still had his guilty pleasures. Especially his pleasure in drinking alcohol.  
  
Nemo just shook his head and laughed. Jekyll leaned over Dorian again, this time checking Dorian's heartbeat for about the millionth time with his stethoscope.  
  
Jekyll cringed as he shifted the many layers of Dorian's suit to get to his bare chest. He gently pressed his stethoscope to Dorian's chest and listened.  
  
His head still lying on the pillow, Dorian's eyes began to flutter open.  
  
"Jekyll, look!" Nemo exclaimed. "I believe that he's starting to wake up!"  
  
Jekyll quickly threw his stethoscope back in his medical bag and began to slap Dorian's cheeks gently. "Dorian? Dorian, can you hear me?"  
  
Dorian's head shifted from left to right, and his hands began to twitch by his sides. After a few moments, Dorian's eyes opened. Jekyll noticed that they were tired and bloodshot.  
  
"Dorian?" Jekyll asked gently, peering over him. "Dorian, can you hear me? Are you all right?"  
  
For a moment, Dorian Gray looked around the room, appearing to be confused. He looked down at his arms in wonder and amazement.  
  
"Mr. Gray?" Nemo asked, coming closer to the bed. "Mr. Gray, are you feeling better?"  
  
"Dorian, is everything okay?" Jekyll asked gently.  
  
Dorian turned to stare at Jekyll. He looked as confused as ever. "Dorian?" he asked, his voice just barely a whisper. "Who's Dorian?"  
  
*  
  
And no, the story isn't over yet. Stay tuned for more. Remember to leave your reviews!!!  
  
~ Alisonia 


	18. Nemo's Newest Crew Member

Wow, it seems as if a lot of you were surprised...and possibly a bit pleased...with the way everything turned out in the last chapter. I'm glad!!! That's what I'm trying to do, folks!!  
  
Shout-outs:  
  
To Silent Bob 546: Nope, he's not faking it!! He really does have amnesia!! I KNEW it would be a shocker!!! BWAHAHAHA!!! I'm tempted to try Korean pears now. I've never had them before. (By the way, if you want to kidnap me and force me to write your fic, please wait another two weeks when finals will be over!)  
  
To MisSEsmADhATTer: I take it you're awestruck. Thank you!  
  
To Mrs. Mina Harker: Was Dorian ever good to begin with? Or was he just born bad, and has been bad ever since? That's a great topic for discussion. But will Dorian STAY good now that he has amnesia??? That's the main question!!!  
  
To Graymoon74: Skinner actually has several drinking buddies now. I sure hope that man doesn't become an alcoholic. *Ahem* and I am still waiting for you to update your "pile of crap"....*ahem*...  
  
To Ares: Dor-dor? *shivers* Geez, that's a scary name!!! What are they going to do next, you ask? Well, let's just find out, shall we?  
  
To twinlady: Thanks for reviewing!! Yes, I admit that I have an unusual writing style. As for Mina... this is the way I explain it. Mina used to be a tough girl, but ever since she fell in love with Jekyll, she's been spending a lot of time around him, and his panicky ways have sort of rubbed off on her...  
  
To Dr. Griffin (for chapter 16): Wait until the heavy drinking gets started. Then you'll be seeing a lot of Hyde!!!  
  
To Dr. Griffin (for chapter 17): Thanks for being shocked; it's what I wanted!!!!  
  
Enjoy the chapter!!!  
  
*  
  
Nemo just gaped at Dorian. "He has amnesia, Doctor!"  
  
"Oh, I can SEE that, Nemo!!" Jekyll stomped. He was starting to get stressed out again. Nothing ever went his way.  
  
"So what now?"  
  
Jekyll took a deep breath. "Well, he doesn't remember anything about us or why he's here, which is good. However, most amnesiacs regain their memory somewhere throughout their lifetime."  
  
"Who are you two?" asked Dorian, still quite confused. Suddenly, he gripped the bedpost in terror. "I feel us moving," he said, his voice shaking. "Are we on a boat?"  
  
Nemo fumed at Dorian calling his Nautilus a mere 'boat.' Suddenly, a thought came to him, and he smiled. "But Mr. Gray is immortal, Doctor. It may be thousands of years before he regains any memories. We'll all be dead by then, even Mina! Vampires can't live past a few hundred years, can they?"  
  
"Let's not think that far into the future, Nemo," Jekyll advised him. "The question is, what do we do with him RIGHT NOW. We can't send him to a mental institution to get his memory back, because if he gets his memory back quickly, he'll come attacking us again. We can't hit him over the head, either. That MAY bring his memory back, but it's very bad for his brain cells."  
  
"Can either of you PLEASE explain to me what's going on?" Dorian asked them. He was beginning to grow impatient.  
  
"We're on a ship. I'm the captain, and you're one of my crew members," Nemo said exasperatedly. It was the only thing he could think of.  
  
Jekyll grinned. "Good one, Captain," he whispered.  
  
"Then why am I here in bed?" Dorian asked. He put a hand to his head. "Why does my head hurt so much? And why does my stomach hurt so much?" Dorian doubled over, clutching his stomach. The blow to his head had somehow lessened some of the side effects of the potion, but not all.  
  
"Because...because Doctor Jekyll here says you're sick with....with..."  
  
"Food poisoning," Jekyll said finally.  
  
"Yes, that's right," said Nemo. He turned to Jekyll. "Get him the antidote," he whispered.  
  
"Right," Jekyll nodded. He turned to Dorian. "I'll get you some medicine, Mr. Random Crew Member of Nemo's. I'll be right back." Twisting his hands in stress, Jekyll ran off to his lab.  
  
* * *  
  
"Okay, so, how many bottles of this do we need? Three for Edward, one for you, and one for the rest of us, right?" Donna asked Skinner. They were down in the kitchen raiding the whiskey cabinet again.  
  
"Right," Skinner agreed. "Oh, and get one more, too. For Mina. We'll sneak it into her room later on."  
  
"Okay," Donna agreed. She got out six bottles of whiskey, handed a few over to Skinner, and together, they made their way back towards Skinner's room to hide the whiskey until later.  
  
They were almost there when they noticed Mina. She had just emerged from her room wearing nothing more than her corset and petticoat.  
  
"Mina!" gasped Skinner, shocked. In the early days of the League, he'd bent over backwards trying to see Mina naked, but now that she was Jekyll's girl, and Jekyll was ultra-conservative, Skinner figured she'd never take her clothes off. "Mina, what's gotten into you?"  
  
"What's got inta me?" mumbled Mina, slurring her words horribly. "What's got inta you, Skinner? Gimme a bottle of that." Mina's uncoordinated arms reached out for a bottle of liquor.  
  
"She's drunk!" Donna said aghast. "Rodney, how much tequila did you put into that blood?"  
  
"Only a little. Or, at least I thought it was only a little," Skinner admitted. He started to sweat profoundly. "Quick, we need to hide her before Jekyll sees her! He'll murder me!"  
  
"Here, give me those bottles. I'll hide them in my room. You hide Mina in yours," said Donna.  
  
"Deal," said Skinner. He handed the bottles he was holding to Donna, who struggled with the six bottles in her arms. Grabbing Mina, he started dragging her off towards his room.  
  
"Hey," Mina whined, still slurring her words. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her reddish-brown hair, usually nice and neat, was hanging all over the place. "I said I wanted one! GIMME A BOTTLE!" she shrieked drunkenly. "GIMME ONE NOW!"  
  
"Later, if you're good," Skinner said. "Right now we're going to play a game. It's called Get Mina Out of Sight Before Jekyll Finds Her."  
  
"I don't wanna play. I wanna drink more blood!!!!"  
  
* * *  
  
"Here, this'll buy us some time." Henry Jekyll injected a powerful sleeping potion into Dorian's veins. Within seconds, the amnesiac immortal was fast asleep.  
  
"How long will it last?" Nemo asked.  
  
"The standard 48 hours. It's the same thing McCane used on Mina the first time he was on the Nautilus."  
  
"Oh! Right!" Nemo said, recognizing the potion.  
  
After giving Dorian the antidote to the poisonous water/potassium potion, Jekyll had given him the sleeping potion. Hopefully, within the next 48 hours, they would figure out what to do with him.  
  
"Well, what do we do now?" asked Nemo.  
  
"I don't know, maybe someone else has an idea. I bet you anything Simon Linoge will be able to think up a plan."  
  
Nemo smiled. "I agree. Let's go ask him. Say, isn't it six o' clock?"  
  
Jekyll checked his pocketwatch. "Yes, it is. Time for dinner."  
  
"I'll go check and see that it's ready. You round up the others."  
  
Jekyll nodded and spread a thick blanket over Dorian. Surely, between the members of the League, two angels with Heavenly powers, a telekinetic albino, a former terrorist, and a monstrous thug now in his own body, one of them had to have an idea as to what to do with Dorian, right?  
  
* * *  
  
Twenty minutes later, everybody (except for Mina) was gathered around the dinner table. Skinner had announced that Mina was sound asleep in her room. In reality, though, he had locked her up in his own and prayed to Heaven that she didn't make any loud noises while the group was at dinner.  
  
Jekyll explained to the group that Dorian had awoken with amnesia, and he got mixed reactions. Most people, like Skinner, were jumping for joy (as inappropriate as it was.) Sawyer just looked confused, and Batsie, always the one to be polite, cried, "Oh, dear!"  
  
"Amnesia means you have a loss of personal memories, Tom," Donna told Sawyer, recognizing the confused look on his face.  
  
"I KNOW what it means, Donna," Sawyer snapped. "I just didn't know that Dorian would be one to come down with it. The man's a monster."  
  
"The man WAS a monster," Donna said happily. "Not anymore!"  
  
"But we need to figure out what to do with him," Jekyll continued. "We can't pass him off as one of Nemo's crewmen forever, and we can't send him away to a psychiatric hospital, because most amnesiacs eventually regain their memory. There are nine people sitting at the table. Ten, if we include Mina. One of us has to have an idea as to what to do with him!"  
  
"Where is Dorian now?" asked Batsie.  
  
"Asleep in one of the spare cabins," Jekyll answered her.  
  
"If only he could stay asleep forever," Skinner sighed. There was a silence.  
  
"I have it!" Simon Linoge cried out suddenly. "I know how you can get rid of Dorian forever!"  
  
*  
  
Yeah, yeah, I know...another cliffie. I guess they're my trademark. Well, I can't help putting you all in suspense!!! (Writing cliffies are a guilty pleasure of mine, just like Jekyll's drinking!)  
  
Remember to REVIEW!!  
  
~ Alisonia 


	19. Euthanasia

So we're all agreed that drunk Mina was funny? Good. I had a feeling that she wasn't drunk enough, but the reviewers told me she was just fine.  
  
Speaking of the reviewers, here are the shout-outs:  
  
To Silent Bob 546: Mina's drunk, and what will they do? *giggles* Well, let's just see, shall we? BWAHAHAHA!!!!  
  
To Graymoon74: Yeah, Mina drunk is pretty funny, isn't it? *giggles insanely* Don't worry, I'll keep her drunk for a few more chapters. I'm having fun writing about it.  
  
To Ares: The whole "dor-dor" thing is slightly beginning to scare me, but maybe I'll use it as the name Mina calls Dorian when's she drunk. *thinks* Yeah, that's it!!! That's what I'll do!!! Geez, you're a genius!!!! (But you'll have to wait until the next chapter, though. Sorry!)  
  
To galabalesh: Wait until Jekyll sees drunk Mina. Now THAT's going to be hilarious! By the way, I've never seen "Kill Bill Vol. 1." What's it about?  
  
To Dr. Griffin: Simon can't help it. He always has evil diabolical ideas. Oh, and Dorian's still an immortal. His portrait was destroyed in the fire, if you remember, and there always has to be one Dorian alive at all times. And since the portrait is gone, he's immortal once more. Boo.  
  
Enjoy the next chapter!  
  
*  
  
Mina was still locked in Skinner's room. Still drunk, but very ticked off, she began to pound on the door.  
  
"LEMME OUT!!! LEMME OUT!!!" she shrieked as she threw her body up against the door.  
  
Over in the dining room, Simon was just about to explain his plan when...  
  
"What IS that?" Nemo asked curiously, interrupting Simon and tossing his head in the direction of Skinner's room. He couldn't hear Mina yelling, but he could hear the pounding. "It sounds like the whole ship is caving in!"  
  
"Nothing," said Skinner hastily. "Probably just one of the crewmen working. Nothing to panic over."  
  
"Rodney's right, it's probably just one of the crewmen," Donna added, as casually as she could. "Here, let me get up and see what's causing all the noise."  
  
"No, let ME go," said Skinner, kicking her under the table. He got up and ran off in the direction of his room.  
  
Jekyll shrugged. Skinner was acting weird, but this was nothing unusual. "Okay, back to business. Simon, you said you had an idea?"  
  
Simon nodded and smiled. "Well, this may be a bit sinister, but I got the idea from what Rodney said a few moments ago about Dorian being asleep forever. Well, I say we do just that. Make him fall asleep...forever."  
  
"Euthanasia?" asked Jekyll, dumbfounded. "Like putting a sick dog to sleep? I don't know... I mean, that's a bit too...inhumane."  
  
"Well, if anyone else has an idea, I would be glad to hear it," Simon said briskly. He turned to his wife. "Batsie?"  
  
Batsie looked at her husband and shook her head. Then she turned to Jekyll. "Henry, there aren't very many ways to get rid of an immortal, believe me."  
  
"Remember that potion Skinner used on Mina once?" Tom asked. "The one that made her skin all blotchy, until McCane came along and cured her? Well, I suggest we use that on him. He'll be so embarrassed that he'll go away and never bother us again."  
  
"No guarantees," said Jekyll, shaking his head. "With our luck, he'll just get angry and kill us all. Besides, Skinner destroyed the formula for that. Mina made him."  
  
"Oh," said Tom, disappointed. "Well, I bet Skinner himself has an idea or two."  
  
* * *  
  
"Sorry, Mina, but you've left me with no choice," Skinner said. He forced the drunken vampire to his chair and began to tie her up with a length of rope.  
  
Mina went down kicking and screaming. "GET ME BLOOD!!! I WANT BLOOD!!!"  
  
"Shut up, do you want Henry to hear?" Skinner hissed at her.  
  
"Aw, Henry can hear iffhe wants, I doncare...."  
  
"You will care tomorrow morning when you're sober again!!" Skinner hissed. He put some tape over her mouth to keep her quiet. Mina could have broken free from the ropes easily, but she was too drunk to coordinate her movements. "Now please be quiet, Mina!!" Skinner pleaded. "If you're good, I'll let you look at the issues of PlayVamp that I have hidden under my bed!" (1)  
  
Skinner made sure her ropes and gag were tight enough, and was about to run off to the dining room again when his bedroom door opened and in came Edward Hyde.  
  
Hyde flexed his humongous arm muscles. "What's goin' on?" he asked. "We can hear pounding from the dining room."  
  
"Watch Mina," Skinner told him, in a desperate tone. "Please, Hyde, just watch her. She's getting out of control! And don't tell Jekyll anything about this!!!!!"  
  
Hyde shrugged. "Henry'll be drunk tonight anyway, so there's no use in keeping a secret from him. But sure, I'll watch her."  
  
"Thank you so much, Hyde!" Skinner said to him. And he was off to the dining room again.  
  
* * *  
  
"So, Skinner...do you have any ideas on how to get rid of the monster?" Sawyer asked him as Skinner sat back down at the table.  
  
"Sure. Lock him in a room filled with nothing but alcohol. He'll be dead of alcohol poisoning in an hour tops."  
  
Sawyer and Jekyll looked at each other, confused. But then Nemo started laughing.  
  
"No, no, Skinner, not Hyde!! Sawyer meant Gray!!"  
  
"Oh! Dorian!" Skinner exclaimed. "Thought you meant Hyde, sorry. And no, I don't have any ideas. Well, I do, but none of them would work on him." Skinner sighed. "If only he wasn't immortal. Then I would have plenty of plans to get rid of him."  
  
"Yes, that is kind of a throwback," Simon Linoge added. "So, we're all agreed, then? Euthanasia?"  
  
"No, we're not agreed!" Jekyll stomped. "I still think it's too inhumane! It's for animals, not humans. I refuse to administer eternal sleeping drugs to him!"  
  
"Jekyll, he's not a human. He's a monster," said Sawyer.  
  
"I don't care. It's unfit for monsters too!"  
  
McCane leaned over and whispered to Skinner and Donna. "Desperate times call for desperate measures, eh, you two?"  
  
Skinner nodded. "Yep. There's only one way to solve this. Get Jekyll drunk until he agrees. My room. Tonight. No funny business."  
  
Donna hesitated. "What about Mina?"  
  
"Oh, don't worry. We'll think of something."  
  
* * *  
  
Four hours later, Skinner, Sawyer, Jekyll, Hyde, and Donna all gathered in Skinner's room for an evening of drinking and poker. Simon, Batsie, McCane, and Nemo weren't very heavy drinkers, so they didn't even bother to show. Donna wasn't much of a drinker, either, but her responsibility was to keep Jekyll away from Mina, who was tied up and locked in her room. Skinner would probably get too drunk to do it, so he asked Donna for her help.  
  
"Okay, here's the booze," said Skinner, passing out the bottles. "Three bottles for Hyde, a bottle for me, and a bottle for Sawyer, Jekyll...and Donna, I guess...to share."  
  
"Who's that extra bottle for?" asked Hyde, pointing to the extra bottle left on Skinner's bed. It was the bottle that was supposed to be for Mina, but Skinner felt uneasy about giving it to her now.  
  
"Oh, that's for whoever wants it," said Donna hastily. "If we run out, I don't feel like making a second trip down to the kitchen, like I did last night."  
  
"Fair enough," Sawyer said. He picked up a deck of cards. "So, who's in for the first game?"  
  
*  
  
"Vampires' Playboy" was already taken by FormerlyKnownAsPhoenix, so I have to use "PlayVamp."  
  
I've decided to end the chapter here, because I don't know how long it's going to take before all the men get drunk, and I really don't feel like putting another break in the chapter. There are already enough breaks in it.  
  
There was hardly any action, I know, but don't worry. They'll be plenty of action in the next chapter.  
  
Remember to REVIEW!!  
  
~ Alisonia 


	20. Now I Lay Him Down To Sleep

Greetings!  
  
I have finals this week, but I can't be studying 24 hours a day, so I plan to work on this during study breaks. Next week I'm going home, and I hope to finish up this story at home. There are only a couple more chapters to go.  
  
Shout-outs:  
  
To Silent Bob 546: Actually, I think that most people would be kind of grossed out to see naked vampires in a magazine (except for Skinner, of course. And Mina. And maybe Hyde.) But I certainly wouldn't want to look at an issue of PlayVamp!  
  
To queerquail: You're probably right, but I don't know the truth. So, I'm just going to pretend that vampires only live for a few hundred years. The idea's convenient for the story, anyway.  
  
To Ares: I'm sorry, but I don't think Mina will have the chance to meet Dorian while she's drunk. She was GOING to, but then I got a great idea for a plot change. I still hope to use "Dor-dor," though.  
  
When we last left off, the men of the League were getting drunk and playing poker in Skinner's room. So, let's return to that scene, shall we...  
  
*  
  
It was two in the morning, and Rodney Skinner's room on the Nautilus was not a pretty sight. Skinner himself was passed out on the floor from drinking too much.  
  
Tom Sawyer was also unconscious, but for a different reason. He was just sitting and talking with Donna, completely sober, his very first whiskey in his hand, not even half empty. Suddenly, Edward Hyde came up behind him and smashed his head in with the card table in a drunken rage. Hyde had accused him of cheating during poker.  
  
Of course, Tom hadn't even been playing poker. He was just talking with Donna. Hyde was awfully stupid when he was drunk.  
  
Donna was about to yell for help when Henry Jekyll started puking in the corner. He was the one who had swiped the extra bottle of whiskey lying on Skinner's bed. Like I said earlier, drinking was his guilty pleasure.  
  
"Henry!" Donna exclaimed, in shock. "Oh my God! Hold on, okay? I'll be right back with help!"  
  
Hyde, meanwhile, had found the issues of PlayVamp that Skinner had hidden under his bed, and was huddled in the opposite corner, giggling like a schoolgirl at all of the naked vampires.  
  
Donna burst out of Skinner's room and went to McCane's room down the corridor a little ways. Luckily, he wasn't asleep. Andre McCane hardly ever slept.  
  
"Andre, it's Tom! Edward Hyde hit him with a table, and he's passed out on the floor, and I think he has a concussion! And Dr. Jekyll has alcohol poisoning, he's sick in the corner..."  
  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" McCane slowed her down. He got up and put his arm around her. "Okay, what's going on, now?"  
  
"Edward Hyde hit Tom Sawyer over the head with a card table, and now Tom's unconscious."  
  
"Why?" asked McCane, confused.  
  
"Oh, Edward was drunk! I don't even know why I volunteered to be in that room tonight anyway!" Donna thought for a moment. "Oh, yeah. It was to keep Henry away from Mina. Never mind."  
  
"Okay, I'll see if Batsie's awake next door, and we'll get her to help Tom. Just keep everything under control."  
  
"I'll try my best."  
  
* * *  
  
Donna was sitting in Skinner's room, cradling Tom's unconscious head in her arms. She had tried rousing him, but it was no use. Hyde had got him good.  
  
Andre McCane came in and started to lift Tom off the floor. "Here, help me move him into Batsie's room."  
  
"Why can't Batsie just come in here?" Donna asked him.  
  
McCane spread his arms around Skinner's room. "Donna, really! Batsie's too much of a lady to see this!"  
  
Donna felt somewhat insulted, but she thought McCane had made a good point. She picked up his chest, and McCane picked up his legs. Together, they carried Tom off to Batsie's room.  
  
* * *  
  
Andre and Donna lay Tom's body down on a purple velvet sofa in Batsie's room. Batsie Linoge clamped her hand down on Tom's skull like a claw. In a matter of seconds, Tom's eyes started to flutter back open.  
  
"There," Batsie smiled. "He had a concussion, but it's healed now. He'll have a severe headache for the next few hours, but other than that, he should be fine."  
  
"Thanks, Batsie," said McCane. He turned to Donna. "I'll make sure Tom's all right. You get back to Skinner's room and make sure that nothing else like this happens."  
  
"Oh, do I really have to go back there?" Donna whined.  
  
"Yes. You volunteered to, and there are still drunk people in there!"  
  
Donna sighed, left Batsie's room, and headed back toward Skinner's. However, before she got there, she ran into Captain Nemo.  
  
"Donna. Where's McCane?" Nemo asked her.  
  
Donna turned around and pointed down the hall. "Batsie's room. Why?"  
  
"Important scientific business."  
  
Donna shrugged and moved on to Skinner's room, where nothing had changed in the three minutes that she had been out. Skinner was still unconscious, Henry was still vomiting in the corner, and Hyde was flipping through issue after issue of PlayVamp and laughing hysterically.  
  
Donna sighed and rolled her eyes. She's never volunteer to do this again.  
  
* * *  
  
Nemo stood in Batsie's bedroom doorway. "McCane."  
  
"Yes, Captain?" Andre McCane was checking Tom Sawyer's pulse, and Batsie was soothing his forehead with a cool washcloth.  
  
Nemo walked over to him. "The conversation that we had earlier tonight at dinner...I've examined all of our choices, and I believe that Simon was right. Putting Dorian to sleep forever is just about the only thing we could do. As the captain, I order you to administer it as soon as possible."  
  
McCane's mouth dropped open. "But, captain, Henry Jekyll said..."  
  
"Henry Jekyll is not the captain of this ship. I am. And as the captain, I order you to do it."  
  
"Yes, Captain. But are you sure it's our only option?"  
  
"Yes. Dorian is a very dangerous individual, Andre. We cannot afford to let him out of our sight again, even with amnesia, because he's bound to get his memory back sometime and come after us again. And we cannot keep him with us, because like I said, the moment he gets his memory back, the members of the League will be in danger. We have no other choice. He may not be able to die, but he can sleep. So he just has to go to sleep forever."  
  
"Yes, Captain," McCane said. "But when you said, 'as soon as possible,' how soon were you talking about?"  
  
"Right now." Nemo turned to Batsie. "Mrs. Linoge, you will assist your ex-husband with the operation, to make sure everything runs smoothly."  
  
Batsie was not one to disobey orders. "Yes, Captain," she said timidly.  
  
McCane turned to her. "Are you sure you can do this?"  
  
"Well, my job is to fight evil isn't it?"  
  
"True," McCane nodded. "All right, then." He sighed. "Let's get this over with."  
  
* * *  
  
Batsie and Andre, both solemn-faced, walked down the corridor together to Dorian's room. Batsie was fooling with the white chiffon scarf around her neck, and McCane was fooling with the black bag in his hands, which included a vial of the eternal sleeping potion, a stronger version of the drug used to put sick animals to sleep.  
  
Andre peeked into Skinner's room. Hyde was through looking at PlayVamp, and was now trying to stuff an entire deck of cards into his mouth. Donna was trying to straighten up the room.  
  
Andre looked at Batsie. "Should we tell her now?" his look asked her.  
  
She sent him a look back. "No. Wait until tomorrow," it said to him.  
  
They finally reached Dorian's room and slowly pushed open the door. Everything was in order, and Dorian was still fast asleep on the bed. Andre and Batsie walked over to the bed together.  
  
"I'll do it," Batsie said. "Hand me the needle."  
  
Wordlessly, Andre opened the small black bag and took out the vial and a syringe. He loaded the syringe with the liquid and handed it over to Batsie.  
  
Batsie took it, but she didn't inject Dorian with it right away. She set the syringe down on the bed and closed her eyes.  
  
"If you're going to stall, just let me do it," Andre said impatiently.  
  
"I'm not stalling. Shouldn't we pray for him?"  
  
Andre McCane folded his hands in prayer. "Oh, Lord, we're about to put Dorian Gray to sleep. From what Mina has told me, he's lived a long life, and he doesn't deserve to live any more. So, pray for him, Lord, as his soul descends into Hell, if he even has a soul. Amen," he prayed sarcastically.  
  
Batsie stole an evil glance at him, but finished her prayer. Then she picked up the syringe and raised it high above her head to the heavens.  
  
"Oh, Lord, this man will now fall into an eternal sleep, never to rouse again. Give me the guidance to plunge the needle into his veins, Lord, and give Dorian Gray the guidance to find his way to Heaven. Amen." Batsie prayed for everybody to get into Heaven, now matter how terrible they were.  
  
With shaking hands, Batsie Linoge lowered the syringe and jabbed it into Dorian Gray's throat.  
  
Job done.  
  
*  
  
Oh, NO!!! What's Jekyll going to say when he's sober again? What are they going to do with Dorian's body? And is Donna going to be scarred for life by the scenes of drunkenness she has experienced while in Skinner's room?  
  
I hope to answer all of those questions in the next chapter. Remember to REVIEW!!  
  
~ Alisonia 


	21. Jekyll Throws a Fit

Greetings, avid readers!  
  
Okay, I know that I'm rushing the last few chapters of this story, but I can't help it. I want to get it all done before I leave for home (which is on Friday.) When I'm at home, I get so distracted that I never bother to put anything up. So I'm trying to finish this story within the next few days.  
  
The only shout-out this time goes to Ares: I don't think Mina would appreciate Dorian's body in her room. Remember, she's feeling pretty ticked off at him now. And as for "I feel pretty," I think I'll use it for my next story. There are only a couple more chapters left to go on this one, and I don't think any of them will be drunk anymore.  
  
Here's chapter 21; enjoy!!  
  
*  
  
Henry Jekyll awoke the next morning in Skinner's bed, feeling awful. As he sat up, he kept a hand on his nauseous stomach to keep himself from vomiting. "What happened last night?" he wondered aloud, putting his other hand to his woozy head.  
  
But neither Skinner nor Hyde answered him. They were both out like lights...Skinner still on the floor, and Hyde sprawled across Jekyll's feet at the end of the bed.  
  
Jekyll felt a wave of nausea creeping over him. He clutched his stomach harder. "Henry, have you had too much to drink again?" he mumbled to himself.  
  
The air smelled suspiciously like vomit. "Yes, Henry, you've had too much to drink again," Jekyll sighed, still talking to himself. "Well, I guess it's time for another cold shower."  
  
* * *  
  
Mina and Henry both reached the dining room at the same time, where Batsie, Simon, McCane, Donna, and Nemo were already waiting for breakfast. Mina and Henry had both taken cold showers, but they were still moaning in pain and agony. And Mina was once again fully clothed.  
  
"Mina?" asked Henry, upon seeing her groan and hold her stomach in pain.  
  
"Henry?" asked Mina, looking up to face him.  
  
"What's wrong, Mina?"  
  
"Nothing," Mina lied. "Well, I just don't feel well this morning. That's all."  
  
"Then you should lie down in bed. Would you like me to examine you?"  
  
"No," said Mina quickly. "I'll be fine. What's the matter with you?"  
  
"Oh...I'm not feeling that well, either," Henry life smoothly. Mina would kill him if she knew what he had been doing last night. "Maybe we caught some kind of bug from each other."  
  
"Maybe," Mina agreed. "After breakfast, I intend to lie down and sleep for several hours."  
  
"Oh, will you two please sit down?" cried Donna impatiently. Having had only a few hours of sleep the previous night, she was not in the best of moods this morning. "I want to hurry up and eat so that I can go to bed too."  
  
"Certainly," mumbled Henry. He pulled out a chair for Mina, and then sat down next to her.  
  
"Where are Skinner and Hyde?" asked Nemo, from the head of the table.  
  
"Still asleep," answered Jekyll automatically.  
  
"Oh, well. We're just going to have to start without them," said Donna impatiently.  
  
Nemo nodded. "Yes, I suppose you're right, Miss Andersen." He called to First Mate Patel to bring out breakfast.  
  
"So, Captain," said McCane, as casually as he could. "What should I do with...you know?"  
  
Nemo blinked, but he knew what McCane was talking about. "You mean you left it there?" After doing their job, Batsie and McCane had just left Dorian asleep in his bed. They didn't know what do with him.  
  
"Well, you didn't tell me where to put it! So of course I left it there."  
  
"Very well," said Nemo slowly. "We're on our way to London at the moment. When we get to London, we'll dispose of it."  
  
"What's 'it?'" asked Jekyll. His head was starting to hurt even more. That's what happened to you when you got confused in the middle of a hangover.  
  
"Something Andre and I had to take care of last night, Henry," said Batsie carefully.  
  
"Nothing that concerns you, Henry," McCane added, his voice practically in a whisper.  
  
"I'm not sure about that," Nemo cut in. "I think we should tell him."  
  
"Tell me what?" Jekyll asked.  
  
McCane shrugged. "You tell him, Captain. I want no part in this."  
  
"Very well." Nemo turned to face Jekyll. "Jekyll, I had McCane and Mrs. Linoge administer euthanasia to Mr. Gray late last night."  
  
"WHAT!?!??!?!?!?!"  
  
Within seconds, Henry Jekyll was on his feet and red in the face, very angry. "Captain, how DARE you take advantage of me when I'm drunk!!!"  
  
At this, Mina exploded. "He took advantage of you when you were WHAT last night, Henry?!?!?"  
  
Jekyll ignored Mina and continue to face Nemo. "Well, answer me!!" But before Nemo could answer, Jekyll spun to face Batsie and McCane. "And you two!" he cried, pointing an angry finger at them. "Keeping this a secret from me when I openly refused it!!!"  
  
"They were only following orders, Jekyll," Nemo barked at him. "Don't accuse them of anything!!"  
  
"But WHY, Nemo? Why did you do this?"  
  
"I thought about it long and hard before I made the decision. Like you said before, most amnesiacs eventually get their memory back. If we send him away and he gets his memory back, he'll come after us again. But if he stays with us, all of us will be in danger. I am the captain of this ship, and I ordered it done, Jekyll. We had no other choice!!"  
  
"I bet we would have if you had given me more time to think about it!!" Jekyll shot back. "You didn't even let me think, Nemo!!"  
  
"Well, Henry, if you wouldn't get drunk every night, maybe you could actually think for once!!" Mina attacked Jekyll. Remember, it wasn't Mina's fault that she had been drunk the previous night. It was Skinner's.  
  
Jekyll raised a hand to slap Mina across the face, but then he thought again. Lowering his hand, he turned to face the whole table. "I hate you!" he said to no one in particular. "I HATE ALL OF YOU!!!" Then, turning on his heel, he stomped out of the dining room.  
  
Nothing ever went his way on the Nautilus.  
  
After Jekyll left, everyone just stared at each other.  
  
"Oh, come now. He didn't mean it," said Simon Linoge, who had been quiet all this time. "Come, Mina, you can sit by me."  
  
Mina, very shaken, took a seat by Simon. He handed her a handkerchief to dry the tears that were running down her cheeks.  
  
"Simon's right. He didn't mean it," said Batsie gently. She picked up the teapot and turned, lifting her head so that everyone could look into her eyes and see her graceful charm. "Now, who wants tea this morning?"  
  
*  
  
What does Nemo plan to do with Dorian's body once they reach London? What's going to happen between Jekyll and Mina? And will Skinner ever regain consciousness, or will he lie on the floor forever?  
  
I hope to answer those questions in the next chapter. Remember to REVIEW!!!!  
  
~ Alisonia 


	22. A Happy Ending

Yes!!!!  
  
This is the second to last chapter of the story. After this, there will only be an epilogue to write. I finished the story before returning home!!! Yay!!!!  
  
To Silent Bob 546 (for chapter 20): I know that the League and alcohol do not mix, and that's why I love to write about it!! Hehehehehe.  
  
To Carrot Glace 1: I'm glad you like it!!!  
  
To Ares: Don't worry, there aren't any PlayVamp clippings in Mina's clothes. Skinner owns every issue of PlayVamp aboard the Nautilus, and he kept them safely under his bed until a drunken Hyde dug them out.  
  
To Silent Bob 546 (for chapter 21): That's right, he's MINA's precious Jekyll. Though I do wish he was mine. Sigh.  
  
To Dr. Griffin: 1) He was drunk. End of explanation. 2) You have to be 21 to subscribe to PlayVamp. 3) PlayVamp is published in Transylvania, so you can only get a subscription if you live in Transylvania. 4 and 5) Thanks for the comments. 6) Yeah, all of the violence in Jekyll left him when Hyde came out. 7) Don't worry, they won't break up. 8) He was hung over, shocked, and upset. End of explanation.  
  
To MisSEsmADhATTer: Sorry, but this is the second to last chapter! Would you like me to write a sequel, though?  
  
Enjoy the chapter!!!  
  
*  
  
Mina Harker lay facedown on her bed, crying.  
  
Henry Jekyll approached her room and knocked softly on the door. "Mina?" he asked quietly.  
  
Without lifting her head, Mina recognized his voice. "Go away, Henry," she moaned. "If you want it to be over, then it's over."  
  
"But Mina, I've come to apologize," Henry said quietly. He entered her room and went over to her bed.  
  
Mina lifted her head from her pillow to face him. Henry continued. "Listen, Mina, I'm sorry for going off the way I did. And you were right; I do drink too much. I still want us to be together, Mina, and if you can help me, I'm sure we can fix my drinking problem. Can you please forgive me?"  
  
Mina hugged Henry and kissed his cheek. "Of course I can, honey."  
  
Henry turned Mina's head toward his, and they shared a passionate kiss together. Henry put his arms around her waist, and Mina hugged his neck.  
  
"I love you, Mina," he whispered softly in her ear. "I don't know how I could have gone off at you like that."  
  
"It's okay, Henry. I love you, too."  
  
* * *  
  
The Nautilus had landed in the East London Docks. Getting off the ship, the League members noticed that Dorian's house was STILL up for sale; the real-estate sign still hung in the front yard, just as it had several months ago. Except now it had a large "PRICE REDUCED" sticker across it.  
  
"Nobody wants Dorian's house," mused Tom Sawyer, who had recovered from his headache. "Awww, how sad. I still say we buy it and tear it down."  
  
"We don't have to BUY it to tear it down," said Edward Hyde, flexing his large muscles. He had awoken a few hours earlier. "I could crush it right now."  
  
"No, there still might be someone out there who wants it," Donna replied. "Just leave it be for a while."  
  
Last out of the ship were Nemo and First Mate Patel, carrying a large wooden crate with them. Dorian's coffin.  
  
"All right, let's get this over with," Hyde growled. "I'm starving."  
  
"I agree, let's get this over with," Nemo agreed. "Which way to the cemetery?"  
  
"It's about a block that way," said Simon Linoge, pointing to the left with his cane.  
  
"Do we really have to do this?" Jekyll asked. He had apologized to everyone else, and they all had forgiven him. "Couldn't we have just dumped the crate in the ocean?"  
  
"Don't be silly, Henry," Mina said to him. "Even Dorian deserves a proper burial." Jekyll groaned.  
  
* * *  
  
Jekyll, Skinner, Sawyer, Hyde, Mina, McCane, Donna, Batsie, Simon, Nemo, and Patel all gathered around Dorian's newly dug grave in the Gray family plot.  
  
"Would anyone like to say a few words?" Simon Linoge asked. He was acting as the master of ceremonies for Dorian's funeral.  
  
The League members all looked at their feet.  
  
"Oh, come now! Somebody has to say a few words," Simon pushed them.  
  
"I'll say something," said Skinner. He cleared his throat. "Oh, Dorian," he said, looking up at the sky. "You were such a pain in the neck. I hope Hell's hot enough for you."  
  
"Okay, maybe I should have made myself clear. Would anyone like to say a few KIND words?" Simon asked.  
  
"What's there to say?" asked Sawyer. "All of us hated him. Even Mina hated him." Mina nodded.  
  
"He killed Ishmael," added Nemo, clenching his fists in anger. He had never forgiven Dorian for that.  
  
"How about, 'Oh, Dorian. We're really glad you're gone, and I hope you enjoy the afterlife as much as we'll enjoy not having you around.' How's that?" asked Jekyll.  
  
Simon thought. "Yeah, I guess that's good enough. Thanks, Henry. Anyone else?"  
  
"Let me try," said Sawyer. "Dorian, you took such good care of your house that I don't know why nobody wants to buy it. Amen."  
  
Simon laughed. "There you go! Anyone else?"  
  
"Dorian Gray, I never knew you, but I can't judge on what others tell me. I'm sure you were a decent person, and I'll pray for you to get into Heaven," said Andre McCane.  
  
Batsie Linoge smiled. "That was beautiful, Andre."  
  
"Anyone else? Anybody at all?" asked Simon. Everybody shook their hands.  
  
"Does anybody have anything we could put on his grave?" asked Donna.  
  
Skinner broke a few branches off a dead tree and tossed them on Dorian's grave. "There we go. Beautiful."  
  
"Now, let's get out of here. I'm starving," said Hyde.  
  
* * *  
  
After Dorian's so-called funeral, everybody was having a nice lunch aboard the Nautilus.  
  
"I have an announcement to make," said Henry Jekyll, tapping his water glass with his fork.  
  
"You're allowed to make it if it's not about Dorian," Skinner grumbled.  
  
"Trust me, it's not about Dorian," Jekyll told him. He turned to face Mina. "Oh, Mina," he said to her. "We've only been together for a few weeks, and those weeks have been some of the happiest of my life. My relationship with you has changed me for the better, Mina, and I want to continue to be with you forever. I know we can have a very happy life together." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a plain gold band with a diamond on it. "Oh, Mina Harker, will you marry me?"  
  
Tears formed in Mina's eyes. Deep down inside, she had wanted to be asked this for months. But now it was happening for real, and Mina didn't know what to do. She could only look at Henry, her mind completely blank.  
  
Mina started to cry because she was so happy. "Oh, Henry!" she sobbed. "Yes, yes, of course you can!!"  
  
Mina threw herself around Henry Jekyll, dizzy with tears. Henry took out a handkerchief and began calming her down. "She'll be okay," he told the rest of the League. "Sometimes, you know, she just gets a little emotional."  
  
Everyone else was in awe, except for Edward Hyde, who looked somewhat angry. Jekyll noticed this. "Edward, is it okay if I marry Mina?" he asked his alter ego.  
  
"You can if you do one thing," Hyde replied stiffly.  
  
"What's that?" asked Jekyll, turning pale.  
  
"Let me be the best man at the wedding."  
  
Jekyll laughed. "Deal."  
  
*  
  
And no, the story's not over yet. There's still an epilogue to be written, which should be up tomorrow.  
  
Remember to REVIEW!!!  
  
~ Alisonia 


	23. Epilogue

All right...now to get to the epilogue. I made my goal by finishing the whole thing before Friday!! Yes!!  
  
But first, a few shout-outs:  
  
To Graymoon 74 (for chapter 19): Don't worry, they can always get Jekyll drunk enough. Drinking's his guilty pleasure, remember? And I agree, he TOTALLY needs to take a chill pill.  
  
To Ares: No, the epilogue is not the wedding, but there will be a sequel (or is it a 'cinquel?' It's the fifth episode in the McCane/ Linoge series.)  
  
To Etcetera Kit: 1) The tequila was Ares' idea. 2) Henry doesn't want Mina to drink with them because he's very concerned for her well-being. She is his future wife, after all. SHE could have been the one hit over the head with the table! 3) PlayVamp was just for fun. 4) Hyde as shark bait? No, I think the sharks would be Hyde bait! 5) NO JAIL CAN HOLD EDWARD HYDE. 6) Yes, you are sensing a Donna/ Sawyer romance. 7) That's all I have to say.  
  
To Graymoon 74 (for chapter 20): Hyde's a big boy. He can look after himself (the League thinks so, anyway. I'm not too sure.) And yes, Jekyll will be VERY pissed off!!!  
  
To Graymoon 74 (for chapter 21): If that were on MY ship, I would not have ordered Dorian a funeral. I would have just thrown him overboard for the sharks. But sadly, I don't own the Nautilus OR Dorian OR Nemo OR the sharks. Boo.  
  
To Graymoon 74 (for chapter 22): Don't worry, I'll be sure to write more when this is over.  
  
To galabalesh: Okay, so...refresh my memory. What were we talking about again? (The movie plot is awesome, by the way, but I've forgotten what it's for.)  
  
To Dr. Griffin: 1) Is Sethy speechless, or just stupid? Sethy's the eggplant, right? 2) Why is Hellboy screaming for his pancakes? This chapter had nothing to do with pancakes. Are Sethy and Hellboy related? 3) "A!" That was funny. Anyway, glad you liked the chapter.  
  
To Silent Bob 546: Don't worry, it doesn't end here! There's going to be a "cinquel" (see what I wrote to Ares.) And about Hyde being best man...when Hyde asks, NOBODY refuses him. So there.  
  
And here's the epilogue. It's short, I know, but there's really nothing else to say. It just tells what happens after the story ends...  
  
*  
  
ANDRE McCANE and DONNA ANDERSEN broke up a few weeks after Henry and Mina announced their engagement; they just didn't have any chemistry. McCane is looking for another girlfriend (I wonder who he'll find this time,) and Donna has started to date Tom Sawyer.  
  
After being hit on the head with a card table, TOM SAWYER has given up drinking alcohol, and has vowed to stay away from Edward Hyde whenever HE is drinking alcohol. He is still upset over losing Mina to Dr. Jekyll, but has started to date Donna Andersen instead.  
  
RODNEY SKINNER hasn't changed. Rodney Skinner will never change. But he and Hyde are beginning to plan a bachelor party for Henry Jekyll. Jekyll's kind of scared (and nobody blames him.)  
  
NEMO is glad that Dorian is gone, but is starting to have second thoughts about the funeral. Maybe Henry was right; they should have thrown Dorian overboard to the sharks after all. Oh, well. At least Dorian's finally gone, right?  
  
Like he promised, EDWARD HYDE has started to hang around SIMON LINOGE now that he has his own body. Simon has started to show Hyde the error of his violent, evil ways, and suggested to Hyde that he become a priest. Hyde rejected the idea, because Henry Jekyll would absolutely refuse to have Edward Hyde preside over his wedding (wouldn't you?)  
  
Because she set them up in the first place, BATSIE LINOGE was asked by Henry and Mina to be the Maid of Honor at their wedding. She's also using her talents as a seamstress to make Mina's wedding dress.  
  
As for the future husband and wife, Mina and Henry...  
  
MINA HARKER is thrilled at having a second husband. Lovestuck and excited, she spends her days knitting in her rocking chair, and her nights dreaming of her wedding. She's starting to look for a house in London that she and Henry can move into after the wedding-- any house in London but Dorian's old house, that is.  
  
And HENRY JEKYLL'S dreams have finally come true. He got rid of his alter ego and got himself a girl. He's still afraid that Mina will meet the same fate as his Emma, but Hyde swore that he would do no harm to Mina. When he's not working in his laboratory, Henry plans his wedding with Mina. They plan to marry aboard the Nautilus.  
  
Henry Jekyll's dreams have survived the drama.  
  
*  
  
There, just a short ending note on what happened to everyone.  
  
And for anybody who's wondering what's going to happen next in this series, the next story will [probably] be about Henry and Mina's wedding. Weddings are always fun to write about.  
  
So, how did you like the story in general? Are you pleased with the way in turned out? Remember to REVIEW!!!  
  
Infinitely yours,  
  
Alisonia Nowicki 


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